2023-05-04 09:05:50
by Ilse Romahn
(04.05.2023) If hay fever in adults is not recognized and treated, they have a threefold increased risk of developing asthma. In about a fifth of children with hay fever, the allergy also turns into asthma. If the hay fever shifts to the lower respiratory tract, experts speak of a “change of floor”.
If symptoms such as watery eyes, itchy nose or severe sneezing occur for the first time in spring, those affected should therefore be examined for a respiratory allergy. Proper diagnosis and treatment reduce the risk of allergy changing floors.
Immune system gone astray
Allergy symptoms arise when the body’s own immune system defends itself against actually harmless substances in the environment. Allergic reactions are triggered by certain proteins or protein compounds against which the immune system forms special antibodies. In the fight against the apparently dangerous invaders, the organism releases large amounts of the messenger substance histamine. This excess of histamine then causes the allergic symptoms.
Laboratory tests detect allergy triggers
Allergy-specific antibodies cause violent physical reactions. But they also enable precise allergy diagnostics from the laboratory. Conventional allergy tests are sometimes inconclusive or the results do not match the experience of those affected when they feel their allergy. Using a blood sample and molecular diagnostic test procedures, laboratory physicians can then determine exactly which proteins or protein compounds are causing the allergy. Allergy diagnostics from the laboratory are also useful if the risk of a particularly severe reaction cannot be accurately assessed using a test procedure such as a skin test or provocation test.
Further information is contained in the article “In Focus: Allergy” and the IPF leaflet “Allergy”. It can be free at www.vorsorge-online.de be downloaded.
#Detect #allergies #early