Sometimes it seems like the world is out to get us: bees in our garden, pollen in the air, nuts in our brownies, any number of other things that could trigger an allergic reaction ranging from itchy eyes and a runny nose all the way to anaphylaxis. Why must our bodies react in such over-the-top ways to these seemingly innocuous substances? In the first episode of our two-parter on allergies, we explore that very question. From the biological basis of an allergic reaction to the potential evolutionary significance of allergies, from the history of their discovery to the global status of allergies today, we cover it all. Tune in today!
| History | Biology |
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| American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology. Allergy Statistics 2024. https://www.aaaai.org/about/news/for-media/allergy-statistics |
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2 thoughts on “Episode 161 Allergies Part 1: Pollens, nuts, & bugs”
Halfway through this podcast and just had to comment… I have asthma, eczema and really but allergies. But I have also said that if anyone would ever try to poison me it would work well because my body is also extremely efficient at “expelling” things. The couple of times I have had food poisoning, my body reacted quickly in multiple fashions (without getting graphic) to get rid of the offending food, so interesting!
As I sit here at work listening to this episode I remember the couple of difficult years when my son was 3 or 4 years old and he was diagnosed as allergic to the cold. He washed his hands in the winter with straight cold water and they looked like blown up rubber gloves. I got him to the allergist very quickly. The allergist told me then that he thought most of the unexplained drownings were probably due to this allergy as the allergic reaction was very much the same as the physical symptoms of drowning.
Apparently my son (now 37) has outgrown the allergy but the years of not going to the shore, not buying Italian ices, not going into air conditioning with shorts/sandals has never left me. Carrying benedryl and an epi-pen everywhere. I still worry about the allergy popping up again.
So is this type of allergy caused by a different mechanism? The allergist thinks this is a reaction to a virus.