We, all are familiar with the term ‘Allergy’. But most of us have our own definitions and interpretations of it. In simple terms, allergy is over reaction of our immune system to normally harmless things, to the extent that it harms our own body, depending upon the target organ systems involved. Harmless things means the things we are exposed to in our daily life, like dust particles, insects, pollens, fungi, certain foods and medicines etc. Most of us tolerate them without any reaction. But few people develop allergic symptoms after exposure to any one of them.
Symptoms depend upon the organ system involved. Most common systems include Skin, Respiratory System including ENT and Lungs, Eyes, Gut. You must notice one thing common in all these organs- they are directly exposed to external environment, hence prone to allergy.
Let’s understand it better with an example- suppose a person enters a room where few people are already present. Most of the people will not be uncomfortable with the entry of new person, but someone may feel bad and get aggressive. This person must have some bad experience with the visitor,in the past. Our immune system also gets offended by entry of few outside particles in our body, leading to allergic symptoms. We need to treat/ pacify our immune system/ offended person to control the situation.