There’s two phases of an allergic reaction. The sensitisation phase and the reaction phase
1. Sensitisation: this occurs upon first exposure to the allergen. For very complex reasons your body decides that the allergen is dangerous and tells your B-cells (a type of cell involved in your immune response) to prime your mast cells (another type of cell involved in immunity). This is pretty much like setting up a trip wire for a mine that’ll only go off when you encounter the allergen for a second time. That brings us to…
2) reaction: this happens bc the allergen sets off that trip wire causing your mast cells to release a ton of pro-inflammatory and other molecules resulting in the allergic response.
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