What is an allergy?

The term “allergy” is well known not only to doctors, but also to many people not related to medicine. Here is one of its definitions: Allergy is a state of increased sensitivity of the body to any substance, accompanied by tissue damage and the development of specific inflammation. Almost everyone knows that allergies are accompanied by inflammatory phenomena. However, not everyone knows what substances can trigger an allergic reaction. In order for it to take place, an allergen is needed. Without it, the development of allergic inflammation is impossible.

What are allergens and what are they?

Allergens are substances that cause a state of sensitization (hypersensitivity) of the body and allergic reactions. Allergens, as well as other foreign particles, when they enter the body, cause a response from the immune system, but this reaction is inadequate and entails inflammatory phenomena. Allergens are primarily foreign proteins, lipids, mucopolysaccharides of animal or plant origin, non-protein compounds and some low-molecular substances - the so-called haptens (chemical, medicinal), which acquire the properties of an allergen after interaction with proteins in the blood or human tissues.

Allergens can be: pollen (pollen from trees, cereals and weeds), food (any food product), epidermal (wool, hair, skin, feathers, dandruff, nails, saliva and other components of animals or humans), household (house dust mites ), medicinal (any medicinal substance or its metabolite, that is, what the medicine becomes when interacting with the body), fungal, chemical and others.

The most common is plant pollen, which causes a disease called hay fever (allergic rhinitis).

Hay fever is an allergic disease caused by plant pollen (from the Latin "pollen" - "pollen"). Sometimes you can find names such as hay fever, spring catarrh, seasonal rhinitis, pollen asthma. Characteristic manifestations are seasonal allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis, seasonal bronchial asthma, atopic dermatitis. Children may experience noise and pain in the ears. In some cases, typical attacks of suffocation (pollen bronchial asthma) are possible. Possible skin manifestations on exposed parts of the body, urticaria, angioedema, seasonal pollen dermatitis with severe itching and various rashes. Sometimes hay fever is accompanied by headache, fatigue, sweating, irritability, tearfulness, loss of appetite, and sleep disturbances. Chills, fever, and damage to other organs and systems are less common.

The most typical sign of allergic rhinitis is seasonality, the coincidence of manifestations with the flowering period of certain plants. In this case, the symptoms recur at approximately the same time every year, but since in different years the timing of flowering shifts somewhat due to weather conditions, the timing of the manifestations of hay fever may also change. However, the possibility of pollen allergies to several groups of pollen allergens should be taken into account (i.e. allergies to pollen from different plant families - trees, cereals and weeds).

Hay fever can affect people of different ages and genders. Hay fever is not always diagnosed, so official data on its prevalence are usually underestimated.

Hay fever does not go away with age. About 60 plants play a major role in the development of hay fever. Knowing the approximate timing of their flowering in a given area makes it easier to diagnose the “culprit” allergen. There are usually three periods of increased pollen concentration in the air: spring, associated with the flowering of trees, summer (meadow grasses) and autumn (weeds). The causative factor of hay fever depends on the climate zone and the characteristics of the local flora. So, in Kazakhstan, depending on the region, this is most often pollen of wormwood and ragweed. The flowering calendar of plants also depends on weather conditions. On warm sunny days and strong winds, symptoms are more pronounced. The presence of hay fever can be suspected by analyzing the coincidence in time of symptoms with the flowering calendar, and to confirm it, an allergological examination is carried out.

Allergic diseases must be diagnosed when the first signs appear. If the patient is confirmed to have an allergic disease, it is necessary to undergo allergy tests.