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An allergy can refer to several kinds of immune reactions including Type I hypersensitivity in which a person's body is hypersensitised and develops IgE type antibodies to typical proteins. When a person is hypersensitised, these substances are known as allergens. The word allergy derives from the Greek words allos meaning "other" and ergon meaning "work". Type I hypersensitivity is characterised by excessive activation of mast cells and basophils by immunoglobulin E resulting in a systemic inflammatory response that can result in symptoms as benign as a runny nose, to life-threatening anaphylactic shock and death.

Allergy is a very common disorder and more than 50 million Americans suffer from allergic diseases. Allergies are the 6th leading cause of chronic disease in the United States, costing the health care system $18 billion annually (Allergy statistics).

History


The term and concept of "allergy" was coined by a Viennese pediatrician named Clemens von Pirquet in 1906 *. He observed that the symptoms of some of his patients might have been a response to outside allergens such as dust, pollen, or certain foods. For a long time all hypersensitivities were thought to stem from the improper action of inflammatory immunoglobulin class IgE, however it soon became clear that several different mechanisms utilizing different effector molecules were responsible for the myriad of disorders previously classified as "allergies". A new four-class (now five) classification scheme was designed by P. G. H. Gell and R. R. A. Coombs. Allergy has since been kept as the name for Type I Hypersensitivity, characterised by classical IgE mediation of effects.

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OMG I'm So Irritated WitSome Pple Rite Now! My Allergies R SoBad & I Can't Stop Coughin & MyBro Is Fuckin WitMe I Feel Like I'm bout 2GoOff!
JoJoisLuv (Joseph aka JoJo ) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:17:44 -0000
OMG I'm So Irritated WitSome Pple Rite Now! My Allergies R SoBad & I Can't Stop Coughin & MyBro Is Fuckin WitMe I Feel Like I'm bout 2GoOff!
@LouYoungNY could be mold and or dust...no real tree for me either...allergies :(
MercLusardi (Jennifer Lusardi) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:17:19 -0000
@LouYoungNY could be mold and or dust...no real tree for me either...allergies :(
@DJTob You should trust the doctor. I used to sleep with my dog & after I quit, I have no more allergies. Fai knows it.
usookdee (Usa Sookdee) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:12:56 -0000
@DJTob You should trust the doctor. I used to sleep with my dog & after I quit, I have no more allergies. Fai knows it.
Feeling like I might get to add evergreens to my list of allergies. Joy to the world!
wayzgoose (Wayzgoose) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:12:07 -0000
Feeling like I might get to add evergreens to my list of allergies. Joy to the world!
Dear cat I hate the way you leave your fur all over my carpet and give me allergies, and the way you scratch up my shyt, die already!! HAHAH
IrisKenia (Kagome Espinoza) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:12:02 -0000
Dear cat I hate the way you leave your fur all over my carpet and give me allergies, and the way you scratch up my shyt, die already!! HAHAH
RT @living_without: Research suggests physicians lack knowledge to diagnose or treat food allergies http://bit.ly/64F95K
Oregon_SuNsHiNe (Nicole Mattison) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:11:24 -0000
RT @living_without: Research suggests physicians lack knowledge to diagnose or treat food allergies http://bit.ly/64F95K

 
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