Does one allergic born or made?

In general, to make us allergic to any substance our bodies need to have had previous contact with it. It is for this reason that the kind of environmental allergies vary from one area to another; for example, in coastal areas dominated allergies to dust mites, while in the inland areas are more frequent allergies to grass pollens.

In the Mediterranean climate the most common allergies are weed and Parietaria (walls, old houses) in southern Spain is more common pollen allergy olive, while in northern Europe this allergy is less common and special cases such as birch or palm in Galicia in Elche are given.

As for genetics, allergy to pollen is a complicated legacy that is passed from parents to children with a good chance of being allergic if one parent is, something that does not seem to exist in food allergies or medications (such as a college career title that can then exercise or not).

Prevalence of allergy in Spain

Allergy has been known for a long time but was considered a rare disease; Now, however, it is increasing every year with a prevalence of 25 to 30%, one of the 6 most common diseases.

1 in 3 people will suffer from any allergies in your life, some 12 million people in Spain; in 2050 half the population will have some form of allergy and every year the number of people with allergies increased by 2%.

In 15 years they have doubled allergy cases; the causes? A more Westernized life style, excessive hygiene, pollution and lack of exposure to allergens during childhood, but there are still many unresolved enigmas.

Allergy men and women

Generally, allergy is more common in women globally, but not in respiratory diseases predisposition is similar in both genders, possibly because they care more and more come to medical appointments. Respiratory allergies appear at any age, from 0 to 100 years, because although pollen sensitization is a process that develops over years and the debut often coincides with the adolescent period, every day allergies in younger children and people appear greater.

How to tell a cold from an allergy

The symptoms are very similar and can be confused, but usually itchy eyes and nose is more typical allergy in winter dates is caused by pollens arizonicas and fungal spores while fever, cough productive and muscle and joint pain is typical of catarrhal pictures. That yes, a runny nose with sneezing and respiratory symptoms can be any disease of the two and could start with mild symptoms and become a severe asthma attack, so I always recommend be evaluated by a specialist before medicate and obviously a also allergic catches cold.

Does the pollen allergy has ceased to be seasonal?

Allergy no longer own May and June to begin around February and stay long after the summer, becoming almost perennial. In addition, the pollination of trees is different and climatic changes also affect us with predictions. Every time we know more the weather to predict the levels of pollens to be released in the coming months, with sensors in large cities that collect pollen grains daily and each year we get an idea that months more pollen and how type are. It has also been seen that over the years it rains more and more moisture between October and March grow herbs and grasses, ie, grass and spikelets of the field, with higher levels in spring and increased hospital admissions crisis asthma allergic to pollen.

What are the identifying symptoms of allergies?

In allergic to respiratory inhalants, rhinoconjunctival symptoms are the most frequent sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes and nose can aggravate asthma wheezing, dry cough and fatigue effort if left unchecked.

Other substances that produce symptoms contact us itchy skin are hives, swelling or eczema; We can also suffer digestive symptoms if we are allergic to foods and sometimes can produce rapid and very serious systemic reactions we call anaphylaxis or anaphylactic shock, we should think when someone starts with itchy ears and genitals, with box urticaria associated with gastrointestinal symptoms and then tidal or have difficulty swallowing or breathing.

How to react to an allergy

• Environmental control
• drugs
• vaccines
• Education

The first thing is to know whether it is an allergy or other illness, and once the diagnosis, allergy specialist doctor is the only one able to find the right treatment for the cause that produces the disease, as we have many treatments for different symptoms with antihistamines removing itching, nasal for nasal and bronchial rhinitis for obstruction inflammation of the bronchial inhalers and eye drops for the eyes and even auto - injector adrenaline for severe cases (but remember that it is only symptomatic and untreated the cause, which itself is achieved with allergy shots if properly patterned and individualized for each patient also are becoming more powerful and effective and can administer drops even without punctures).

But perhaps most important it is prevention, knowing what substances we produce allergy and avoiding contact with allergens; for that, there are mobile applications that help us to be alert but not automedicarnos and going to the allergy specialist.

Regular sport is especially recommended for asthmatics because it strengthens the muscles we use to breathe and better tolerate a possible asthma attack, while low fitness and obesity makes it worse. Yes, always evaluating your prevention specialist in outdoor sports and to what effort we can come to bear individually.