Allergy affects the lives of millions of people daily considering it is simply triggered by common dust, dander, pollens, and other airborne particles. Food can also cause severe allergy in some people as caused by fish, peanut and other types of seafood. Usually, allergies can be temporarily treated by taking over-the-counter drugs such as anti-histamines. However, anti-histamines are only effective for controlling mild to moderate allergy. Severe allergy is tantamount to a medical emergency since a life-threatening situation known as anaphylaxis can happen. Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction considered as a medical emergency since air passageways are blocked due to swelling that makes breathing hard. Also, blood pressure takes a sudden dive since anaphylaxis shocks the body’s system which is really very fatal. Allergic reactions such as swelling, eczema, itching, vomiting and shortness of breath seem common at first. Later on, the body reacts with violent spasms when the person cannot breathe anymore. The only effective and fast-acting solution when the body goes into anaphylactic shock is a dose of epinephrine. However, this still requires urgent medical attention since a physician would be the only one to properly administer this treatment. Remarkably, severe allergy reactions happens only because the body’s immune system overreacts to itself.
Severe allergy can also be triggered by certain substances .Even minute amounts can produce severe allergy leading to anaphylaxis such as:
• Prescription medicines and OTC
• Insect stings primarily caused by bees as well as ants and wasps
• Food and certain by products ( shellfish, nuts, soy,dairy)
• Blood transfer• Rubber ( latex)
Aside from the given list, other allergens can also cause severe allergy depending on the body’s capacity to react to substances. It is necessary for people with severe allergy to be cautious in selecting food to eat especially when dining out since some restaurants may include ingredients like peanut that can cause severe allergy. Even exposure to pollen during changing of seasons can trigger severe allergy so it’s best to do house cleaning and vacuuming. In fact, severe allergy can be prevented by people too. People with severe allergy just have to pay attention to any possible allergen around them.