Allergy

Allergies are over-reactions of the immune system in certain individuals to seemingly and generally harmless foreign proteins and substances.

Allergies usually do not occur at the first exposure. When a person is exposed to an allergen for the first time, the body develops molecules called antibodies against the invading proteins. This is called an immune response.

When exposed to the allergen again the immune system produces large amounts of antibodies that lead to break down of mast cells that contain chemicals like histamine. This leads to the features of allergies.

This process is known as sensitization. Sensitization may take days to years. Sometimes sensitization develops as the person affected shows symptoms but never fully develops the allergy to the allergen.

Symptoms of allergy include: sneezing, shortness of breath, wheezing, runny nose and eyes, pain over the sinuses (at the bridge of the nose, near the eyes, over cheeks and at the forehead), coughing, skin rashes (hives), swelling of the lips or face, itching eyes, ears, lips, throat and roof of the mouth, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhea.

Common allergens include pollen, animal dander, fungal spores or molds, dust mites etc. There is severe wheezing, shortness of breath, cough and thick mucus secretions.

When allergic reaction is life-threatening or severe it is termed anaphylaxis or anaphylactic shock. Anaphylaxis involves the whole body.

Anaphylaxis involves: swelling of the throat and mouth and clogging up of airways leading to difficulty breathing, difficulty in speaking or swallowing, rash and itching elsewhere in the body, weakness and collapse often with unconsciousness due to sudden fall in blood pressure. Anaphylaxis requires urgent emergency management.

Exercise 5. Answer the questions:

1. What is allergy?

2. When do allergies occur?

3. What is sensitization?

4. What may a person be allergic to?

5. What are the common symptoms of allergy?

6. How is severe allergic reaction called?

7. What does such a reaction involve?

8. Why does anaphylaxis require urgent emergency management?

Exercise 6. Give English equivalents to the word combinations:

загрозливі для життя алергічні реакції, висипання і свербіж, різке зниження кров’яного тиску, нудота і блювання, кропивниця, чхання й нежить, імунна реакція, бути під впливом алергену, важкість під час говоріння й ковтання, задишка й хрипіння, густий слизовий секрет, квітковий пилок, хімічні речовини, пліснява і кліщі.

Exercise 7. Put the questions to the underlined words:

1. Mosquito bite allergy symptoms include itching, hives, and swelling.

2. While environment plays a role in allergy development, there is a greater risk of developing allergic conditions if a person has a family history of allergy.

3. Testing of the skin or blood may be useful in certain cases.

4. In the developed world about 20% of people are affected by allergic rhinitis.

5. Allergic reactions can result from f oods, insect stings, and reactions to medications.

6. Rates of many allergic diseases appear to be increasing.

7. In severe reactions epinephrine is recommended.

8. Inhaled allergens can also lead to increased production of mucus in the lungs, shortness of breath, coughing, and wheezing.

Exercise 8. Open the brackets, using the verbs in the correct tense and voice forms:

1. Food allergies or food intolerances (to affect) nearly everyone at some point.

2. People often have an unpleasant reaction to something they (to eat) and wonder if they (to have) a food allergy.

3. If you (to suffer) from a milk allergy, strictly avoiding milk and food containing milk and milk products (to be) the only way to prevent a reaction, which (to include) immediate wheezing, vomiting, and hives.

4. Egg allergies are more common in children than in adults and reaction (to range) from mild to severe.

5. If a person (to be) allergic to any wheat protein, he should strictly (to avoid) wheat and wheat products, which (to include) stomach upset, eczema, allergic rhinitis, bronchospasm and even anaphylaxis.

6. Peanut allergies (to affect) about 4 percent of adults and 6 percent of children.

7. A single ragweed plant (to create) up to a billion pollen particles in a year, affecting people with ragweed allergies, namely stuffy sinuses.

8. While all allergy symptoms (to cause) by a hypersensitive response to an otherwise harmless substance, not all allergies (to be) the same.