2023-06-09 19:48:00
It is often believed that allergies appear in early childhood, and that they cannot be triggered in adulthood. Right or wrong ?
Being allergic is simply having an immune system that goes into overdrive on contact with an external substance called an allergen. Although such a reaction is more common in children, there is actually no age for it.
Take the example of food allergy. A relevant example, since it concerns practically two million adults. A person can eat a food for years before developing an allergy. Thus, we no longer count the number of seafood enthusiasts who, one day, trigger a violent food intolerance. The scenario is identical with the pollens present in the air.
And for good reason, the more the person is allergic (even if he does not know it), the more he produces antibodies (IgE) and the more he reacts when he is in the presence of increasingly small quantities of allergens. It is therefore sufficient that the concentration of antibodies reaches a certain level in the body to trigger the allergy.
Multifactorial causes
On the other hand, gray areas remain as to the exact origin of allergic sensitivity. Environmental factors (pollution, intensive use of insecticides or dyes in food) are often implicated. But not only. Certain genetic predispositions are also singled out. Thus the World Health Organization (WHO) recalls that a child whose two parents are allergic has a 50% risk of becoming allergic in turn.
Allergy can result in different symptoms: skin (eczema, redness), respiratory (asthma, allergic rhinitis), digestive (diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain). Swelling of the face or tongue (angioedema), and in some extreme cases, a sudden drop in blood pressure (anaphylactic shock) also indicate an allergy.
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