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

No, they are not caused by mutation in DNA. Allergies are caused by the most part by the immune system “memory” – it’s supposed to remember dangerous things so it can react to protect us against them. Sometimes it makes mistakes and interprets things like pollen or specific proteins in strawberries or milk as dangerous and overreacts.