how do allergies work? What are they exactly?
In: Biology
Allergies are an overactive immune system reacting to something relatively harmless.
For example, pollen is relatively harmless and isn’t going to kill you. However if you are allergic, the immune systems reacts as if it’s a deadly pathogen and does everything it can to get rid of it. Such as sneezing, runny nose, etc. Typical symptoms for an actual illness.
An *allergic reaction* happens when your body’s immune system improperly says “Hey so this is *really dangerous,* let’s go attack it,” just like it would if you actually got an infection — only it’s responding to something generally harmless, like a peanut or animal fluff.
When that happens, it can cause different effects depending on where the allergen is encountered and what it is.
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