Allergens hit their body "target organs" in
different ways. Airborne or inhalational allergens strike the nose ,IIH.1
bronchi and lungs; food allergens M" absorbed through the intestine and distributed
to various parts of the body, frequently showing their effects of the skin;
contact allergens affect ski 11, lips, eyes; allergenic medicines also may
affect the skin.
Some persons have physical allergies, developing typical
allergic responses to sun lights, heat, cold, or humidity. The symptoms ofallergy depend upon the target or shock organ affected. If it is the nose,
there may be congestion, watery discharge, and sneezing, as in hay fever; if
the skin is I he target, there may be rash, hives, or eczema; if the bronchial
tubes are the target, there is the wheezing of bronchial asthma.
Allergies affect both
sexes and may appear at any age. There is a strong hereditary factor. One
patient with severe hay fever has a son of 21 who had asthma from age 6 to 14
and has had almost no attacks since, as the result of avoiding cats; and a
daughter who had hay fever for several years as a child and then
"outgrew" it; the remaining child has not been allergic. It is
important for any person with allergy, or with even a family history of
allergy, to mention the fact to any doctor or nurse who is treating him.
An
allergic or potentially allergic per- son usually will not be given penicillin
or certain other medicines known to commonly produce allergic reactions unless
the medication is absolutely necessary.
Hay Fever Chief among airborne allergic diseases is hay
fever. Curiously, it has nothing to do with hay but is caused by pollens of
trees, plants, and weeds. The typical case is seasonal except in a few parts of
the South where there may be pollen in the air all year. In the northern United
States there is spring hay fever caused by pollens of trees and grasses, and
the summer- autumn variety caused usually by ragweed pollen.
The symptoms, which develop, when pollen contacts nose and
eyes, include congestion of the nose, watery discharge, tickling and
irritation, and sneezing
