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What Is Allergy?

What Is Allergy?

Oct 03, 2004

Allergies are hypersensitive immune responses to substances that either enter or come in contact with the body, such as pet dander, pollen or bee venom. A substance that causes an allergic reaction is called an "allergen". Allergens can be found in food, drinks or the environment.

Most allergens are harmless, i.e. the majority of people are not affected by them. Allergens can stimulate an immune response when you breathe in or touch the allergen, or by ingestion of food or beverage, or from injections of medication.

    Allergy definitions

    Types Of Allergies Allergic Rhinitis
    Common Questions About Allergies

    Common Questions About Allergies

    Allergies result from a misfiring of the immune system, which normally helps the body to fight off harmful viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms...

      Common Myths About Allergies

      Common Myths About Allergies

      While this is sometimes true of food allergies, the majority of childhood allergies are not outgrown...

      Common Allergy Medications

      Common Allergy Medications

      If you have moderate to severe allergy symptoms and you want to regain your usual comfort ...

      Symptoms of Atopic Dermatitis

      Symptoms of Atopic Dermatitis

      Symptoms (signs) vary from person to person. The most common symptoms are dry, itchy skin and rashes on the face ...

      Acne: Top 10 problems

      Acne: Top 10 problems

      Everyone with acne worries about possible scarring. Scarring is best prevented by getting rid of the acne ...

      Women with acne

      Women with acne

      If you are a healthy woman with hormonal acne, then your dermatologist should be able to treat it for you ...

      Treatments For Specific Allergies

      Treatments For Specific Allergies

      Anaphylaxis is an immediate allergy reaction, and it can put you in immediate danger ...

      Drug Allergy

      Drug Allergy

      Allergic reactions to drugs are fairly rare, but almost all drugs can cause a reaction ...

      Test to improve peanut allergy diagnosis

      Test to improve peanut allergy diagnosis

      8% of American children have some kind of food allergy ...

        Allergies - Causes, incidence, and risk factors

        Peanut allergies

        Daily Allergy News

        Emergency visits for childhood food allergy on rise in Illinois

        Emergency visits for childhood food allergy on rise in Illinois

        Jun 26, 2015

        Emergency room visits and hospitalizations of children with severe, potentially life-threatening food allergy reactions increased an average of nearly 30 percent per year over five years in Illinois, reports a Northwestern Medicine study.

        Hispanic children, who previously had the lowest reported cases of food allergies, had…


          Hasbro Children's Hospital study links adverse childhood experiences to pediatric asthma

          Hasbro Children’s Hospital study links adverse childhood experiences to pediatric asthma

          Apr 22, 2015

          Robyn Wing, M.D., an emergency medicine physician at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, recently led a study that found children who were exposed to an adverse childhood experience (ACE) were 28 percent more likely to develop asthma. The rate of asthma…