Why does the body tolerate small amounts of an allergen but not a lot?
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Nearly every physiological system has a threshold, a level of stimulation which if exceeded triggers a cascade of activity that fulfills whatever purpose the system ostensibly serves. The key is that in many such system, repeated stimulation just at the threshold often causes the body to adjust where this threshold lies.
In the case of allergies, with constant sub-threshold stimulation, the body sometimes (but not always) raises the threshold of allergen needed to trigger anaphylactic hormone cascade. This reduces the risk and/or severity of the body’s response should a person encounter a much larger measure of the allergen.
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