Eli5: What is the body trying to do when it goes into anaphylactic shock?

Question

Is it trying to fix itself by closing the airways?….Or is it just a reaction and not a defense.

In: 81

Answer 1

Your body is trying to kill the intruder *at all costs*

Allergic reactions are your body seeing a benign(non-harmful) thing come in and hitting the panic button so it sends up alarms and gets the troops (immune system) to come fight it. One of the ways your body fights things is by releasing all sorts of cells that cause swelling.

Anaphylactic shock happens when your body panics and instead hits the “Nuclear launch detected!” button and release *all* the troops to go fight *everything* and just creates a huge amount of swelling which ends up blocking airways.

Allergies are incorrect triggers of the defensive systems to start with. Extreme allergic reactions come about when your immune system enters a battle to the death with something it can’t kill but it is a battle to the death soooo