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

Allergies are caused by mutations of lots of different genes, some of which haven’t been studied before ([source](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4415518/#!po=9.11765)).

Allergies are caused by an immune response to antigens that aren’t pathogens. In other words, allergies are immune responses to things that wouldn’t have made us sick.

Fortunately, our immune system doesn’t get “maxed out” by exposure to antigens. So even if you have allergies, your immune system can still identify and make antibodies against real diseases.

The problem with allergies is secondary infections – all the phlegm provides a nice place for bacteria to flourish, and then you have a real infection on top of the allergic reaction.