Friday, April 11, 2014

How to Know If You Are Allergic to Something

At the very least allergies only will cause itching, rashes, sneezing, wheezing, pain, and congestion. But at worst, they can lead to anaphylaxis, a fatal systemic overreaction to allergens. The causes of an allergy vary including certain plants, pets, dust mites, molds foods, or chemicals. It is therefore helpful to know if you are allergic to each type of allergens to recognize what substances to avoid or to find the correct treatment of your allergy issue.
To know if you are allergic to something, you should check how your body responds to each of these allergen categories:
1. Foods. According to FDA, the commonest causes of food allergies are fish, milk, peanuts, wheat, crabs, shrimps, soybeans, chocolate, and tree nuts. A milk allergy may cause your body to react with vomiting, hives, or swelling when milk is eaten. Some of food allergies lead to anaphylactic shock along with other symptoms ranging from skin irritations to digestive difficulties.

2. Animals. Cats and dogs could become source of animal allergies because these pets' hair can contain pollen and their saliva may trigger allergic responses. If you experience congestion, itch, swell, bump, sneeze, cough, or nose drips every time you are around your pets, then it is likely you are allergic to them.
3. Pollens. Airborne pollens could be sources of allergies and these things usually at their highest levels during early summer, early fall, and spring. If you experience sneezing, stuffy or runny nose, watery eyes, a scratchy throat, extreme fatigue, post nasal drips, chronic cough, or a lingering cold when you are around airborne pollens, then it is likely you have pollen allergies.
4. Chemicals. Soap and dyes may cause skin allergies in some people. Any irritations, redness, itches and rashes on skin developed after using certain products may show that you are allergic to certain chemicals contained in the products.
5. Smokes. Main allergies are due to a reaction to a particular protein or chemicals. However, smoke allergies are often found too. You may experience a smoke allergy if you sense itchy feeling followed by watery eyes when exposed to smokes. Smokes can irritate nasal passage causing excess sneezing, while tobacco in the air can irritate sensitive eyes. The smoke allergy shows severity if you experience chronic cough or chronic headache. Beware of shortness of breath caused by smokes as that could be fatal.
Taking allergy tests using a test kit at home is helpful to know if you are allergic to something. However, these tests are not always straightforward. Some of allergy tests are very sensitive means false positive results are quite common. Furthermore, interpreting the tests could be difficult to figure out the main cause of your food allergy. For that reason, it is important to undergo blood tests for screening specific antibodies causing allergies under doctor supervision to diagnose your allergies accurately and to find the best way to treat them.
Stalis Ethica is an experienced article writer and a writer manager with science background. She specializes in writing informative articles in various niches.





 Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7762179

No comments:

Post a Comment