Ask Doctor Michael

ALLERGY  Allergy is your body's reaction to a normally harmless substance(s) called allergens. Yes, these substances are harmless to your body but your body has become hypersensitive to them.  This means that when you come in contact with them, your body evokes serious immune responses to them so as to eliminate them.  This developes over time as exposures are frequent and because of the severity of the immune response on  these substances, your systems can be implicated. Allergic reactions can as well be hereditary. This means that it can be inherited and can run in families.  In a normal allergy condition, you react by itching, swelling on the area of contact, runny nose, sneezing, peeling of skin and flaking COMMON ALLERGENS IN OUR ENVIRONMENT ARE: 1- POLLEN 2- DANDER  3- MOLD 4- DUST MITES 5- DRUGS 6- FOOD 5- INSECT STINGS 6- LATEX 7- HOUSEHOLD ITEMS AND COSMETICS LIKE SOAPS, DETERGENT, PERFUMES, BODY SPRAYS AND CREAMS.  POLLEN Pollen is a powdery substance produced by plants,

Anaphylaxis is an extreme and severe form of allergy or allergic reaction . It is usually life-threatening.  Not everyone gets allergies but if you have the tendency to get it from genetics of frequent exposure to allergens , you can develop anaphylaxis. This means that allergy is a risk factor for anaphylaxis but not everyone with allergy experience anaphylaxis.  When you get stung by a bee, the area gets inflammed. It becomes painful, red in color, warm and swollen. It may also itch. These reactions are known as inflammatory reactions and they are triggered by chemicals like histamine, prostagladin and bradykinin which are released by cells in that area so as to fight the offending substance and improve healing.  In anaphylaxis, these chemicals are released in large amount into the bloodstream. They flood your bloodstream and the result of this can be fatal as you can go into shock. You may find it difficult breathing and your blood pressure will drop.  SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS 1- Skin rea