Why does the body go into anaphylactic shock if it’s potentially life threatening?
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So there are these cells called mast cells all over our body, and they’re full of histamine. If they detect foreign particles, they release the histamine. This opens up all the nearby blood vessels so that way white blood cells can come and attack the foreign particles. This allows us to crush any bacterial or viral infection very quickly. You can see this in action by giving yourself a nice hard scratch with your fingernails. Eventually the area will turn a little red.
With anaphylaxis, it’s like a little glitch with how mast cells work. Essentially, there’s this protein that is really, really good at activating mast cells and causing them release their histamine. So good that all mast cells all over the body release all their histamine. Then, all the blood vessels everywhere open up, meaning that there is more volume where blood can be in the body.
You may know from chemistry that [Initial Volume x Initial Pressure = Final Volume x Final Pressure], or more simply P1 x V1 = P2 x V2. So if the final volume is way bigger, then the final pressure needs to be way lower to keep the equation balanced.
So basically your intravascular (inside the blood vessel) volume goes way up and your blood pressure tanks so low that your heart isn’t getting enough oxygen and you die. The solution is epinephrine because it closes the blood vessels and make the heart beat harder, increasing blood pressure.
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