Health Facts

With over 50 million Americans affected each year, allergies are one of the most common medical ailments. An allergy is the body's hypersensitive response to a normally harmless substance, such as pollen, molds, certain foods, a bee sting, dust mites, animal dander, or even latex. These “allergens” cause your immune system to react as if the substance is harmful to your body, triggering common allergic responses such as sneezing, a runny or stuffy nose, watery eyes, itching, or swelling.

Circulating in the fluids within our bodies, antibodies protect us from the many foreign substances that are in the air we breathe, the foods we eat, and the things we touch. People who have allergies have antibodies called Immunoglobulin E, or IgE, which target specific types of allergens, such as cat dander or strawberries. When an allergic individual comes into contact with these allergens, the IgE antibodies quickly surround and capture the unwanted invaders. Unfortunately, this process also initiates the release of chemical “mediators”, such as histamine. These mediators produce the uncomfortable, sometimes severe allergic reactions that cause allergic rhinitis (hay fever), asthma, allergic skin reactions (such as hives), or swelling throughout the body (anaphylaxis).