Allergies are caused by an over-excited immune system and have been studies for decades by scientists. The immune system is sooooo complicated they are still working out what all the different cells do, how they talk to eachother and why things go wrong like allergies.
Everyone’s immune system is different and that is partly controlled by your genes and your environment. That is why different people will react differently when they sniff pollen, grass, animal hair etc.
The role of the immune system is to stop bad stuff from getting into our bodies. We have a pretty nifty surveillance system where cells of the immune system go on patrol, looking for bad bits of dust, food, bacteria, viruses etc that might cause us harm. If these cells recognise a threat, they radio back to base and recruit other immune cells that help fight off the invasion.
Some of these immune cells produce chemicals to try to kill the invasion, but too much of these chemicals can cause problems for our bodies too. Also, sometimes the immune system recognised things as a threat that really are not at all. ie it makes mistakes. This is when it might over-react. Allergies are an over-reaction of the immune system, and the chemicals that the immune cells produce in response to a threat cause itchiness, welts, red eyes, sneezing and when its really bad, they can also cause breathing problems and even anaphylaxis.
Hello oliviak,
Allergies are caused by an over-excited immune system and have been studies for decades by scientists. The immune system is sooooo complicated they are still working out what all the different cells do, how they talk to eachother and why things go wrong like allergies.
Everyone’s immune system is different and that is partly controlled by your genes and your environment. That is why different people will react differently when they sniff pollen, grass, animal hair etc.
The role of the immune system is to stop bad stuff from getting into our bodies. We have a pretty nifty surveillance system where cells of the immune system go on patrol, looking for bad bits of dust, food, bacteria, viruses etc that might cause us harm. If these cells recognise a threat, they radio back to base and recruit other immune cells that help fight off the invasion.
Some of these immune cells produce chemicals to try to kill the invasion, but too much of these chemicals can cause problems for our bodies too. Also, sometimes the immune system recognised things as a threat that really are not at all. ie it makes mistakes. This is when it might over-react. Allergies are an over-reaction of the immune system, and the chemicals that the immune cells produce in response to a threat cause itchiness, welts, red eyes, sneezing and when its really bad, they can also cause breathing problems and even anaphylaxis.
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