Exaggerated Immune Response

361 Words2 Pages
Allergens are special types of antigens that cause a specific reaction. They are everywhere all around us on a daily basis. Some are free floating in the air or suspended; some are sitting on the coat of an animal, some are only in specific foods. Being so, they can be ingested, inhaled, or even touch someones skin. According to the US National Library of Medicine, an allergy is an immune response or reaction to substances that are usually not harmful. In the case of this article, the allergy was in fact a severe allergic response, or anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis, being a type I hypersensitivity, is very rare and can be lethal. Anaphylaxis is triggered when the allergen enters the bloodstream and will take effect in a matter of minutes or even seconds. The immune system is our defense against foreign bodies that enter. Unfortunately our bodies do not discriminate and will attack anything foreign. The lymphoid organs are involved in the immune system, which release lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell that fight infection, with the goal of protecting the body. Once an allergen hits the bloodstream and triggers the immune response with hypersensitivity I, the lines of defense that are suppose to work together can become “defective,” like in the case of anaphylactic shock. Complications can arise due to an altered immune response when too much or too little, or the wrong response occurs. In this case, instead of protecting the body the immune response ends up killing it. The most common treatment for anaphylaxis is epinephrine, or adrenaline, which is injected by a pen, or EpiPen. According to S Allan Bock, MD, the author of a published medical article of UpToDate on ‘Fatal anaphylaxis,’ approximately 5 cases per 10 million individuals in the population died annually of anaphylactic shock. This study was done in a single state from 1996 to
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