18 April 2008

Spring is here - so is my allergy...

You've been waiting for the spring, with sun, warmer times, flowers and all the green. Instead you suffer from running nose, eyes itching and sneezing.
You love dogs, but can´t be around any animal with fur, because all you do is sneeze.

Allergy is a very common affliction and I´m interested in finding the reason behind it. Is it genetics or the environment, or maybe both? Some people are born with some sort of hypersensitivity, while others outgrow their allergy. I on the other hand became allergic to cats and dogs when I was around 12 years old. Before that my family had two cats. My younger brother who was born after we got rid of the two cats are not allergic to anything. And my father is allergic to pets with fur and shellfish...

I've heard that some people who are exposed to the allergen (e.g. having pets) never develop hypersensitivity to this while others do. Still others do develop allergy even though they have pets/ are exposed to the allergen. So why are some people allergic and others not, despite being exposed to the same thing?

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