Allergies occur when your immune system overreacts to a typically harmless substance, causing symptoms such as sneezing, itchy eyes, rashes and congestion to appear.
- Different kinds of allergens
- Drug (medications)
- Food
- Insects that sting (bee, wasp, fire ant), bite (mosquito, tick), or are household pests (cockroach and dust mite)
- Latex
- Mold
- Pet (dog or cat urine, saliva, and dander)
- Pollen
- Treatments for allergies
- antihistamines (claritin, zyrtec, benadryl)
- Immunotherapy (treatment to help train your system to not overreact to the allergen)
Antihistamines block histamine receptors to help prevent or minimize reactions, such as sneezing, coughing, rashes, hives, and congestion.
Immunotherapy helps to build a resistance to the allergen, typically through weekly or monthly injections.
The best way to prevent an allergy attack is to avoid the allergen if at all possible.
2015, September, Allergies, Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America (AAFA), https://aafa.org/allergies/
