Are allergies caused by a mutation in our immune system’s DNA? If so, are allergic people more vulnerable to “normal” diseases?

Question

I know allergies are caused by something in our immune system being different.

What I thought, is that if the allergies are a fault in the DNA, they might take the place away from other diseases that the immunity system actually tries to block?

If the allergy replaces something in our immune system, can we be more vulnerable to things that aren’t even related to our allergy?

In: Biology

Answer 1

To stick with the theme of the thread and explain like you’re 5, imagine that everyone has internal imaginary “meters” each labeled with a different allergen. Every time the person interacts with that allergen, their meter goes up one point for that allergen.

Let’s use peanuts for an example in our test group of Bob and Sue. Bob’s internal peanut meter has 100000000000000 points on it, which means he can eat peanuts 100000000000000 times without having a reaction. He goes his whole life eating peanuts and is fine. Sue’s internal peanut meter only has 100 points on it. By the time she is 5, she has maxed out her meter and has developed an allergy to peanuts.

This is why some people go their whole lives eating a certain food, then one day becoming allergic. Everyone’s meters are arbitrarily “numbered”. That’s the best way I can explain without getting too sciencey!