Allergies
I am not a particularly allergic person, but I know a lot of people who are, as they form a significant part of my patient list. As a consequence, within the practice and in all patient interactions, precautions are taken to avoid any issues.
According to the website www.allergyuk.org the UK has the highest rates of allergic conditions in the world with over 20% of the population suffering from one or more allergic problems. 44% of Brits suffer from at least one allergy and the rate for hospital admissions for severe allergic reactions called ‘anaphylaxis’ (a severe allergic reaction) was increased by 615% in the 20 years to 2012.
An allergy is the body’s reaction to normally a harmless substance such as pollen, food, moulds, medicines, or insects; there are lots of others out there. The body’s immune system specifically cells called antibodies, incorrectly label these allergens as posing a threat and a reaction is started which involves the release of chemicals including histamine. These chemicals cause itching, swelling, sneezing, hives, respiratory symptoms, sinusitis, inflammation in the exposed tissues and sometimes body wide reactions.
In severe cases you can develop Anaphylaxis. Normally immune reactions are relatively local to the site of exposure. However, in anaphylaxis the chemicals are released into the general circulation and have more global and severe effects such as swelling of the swelling of the throat, tongue, problems swallowing, breathing issues and other associated problems including loss of consciousness.
In some cases, the cause of the allergy is obvious, patients have a good handle on the problem and practice avoidance of the allergen. Trying to identify the substance or substances causing the reaction can take some working out, but a decent discussion around the issue and possibly keeping a comprehensive daily diary can be useful in this regard.
Having talked about some steps in managing the condition the treatment that most of us know about is use of an adrenalin auto-injector, commonly known as an ‘epi-pen’ into the upper thigh. Since 1st October 2017 schools can now order and keep these within their premises without prescription so they can be available for use if a reaction occurs in a child without a prescribed pen. Currently there are some issues obtaining the pens due to global and national shortages in supply and manufacture.