Allergies: Causes, symptoms & scope of conventional treatment! ( part 1)

Allergies are one of the most common distressing aliments that affects a larger number of the population each year. sadly, there is no permanent cure for treating allergies.
What are allergies? What are the causes? What are the predominant symptoms? What is the limitation of conventional treatment to treat allergies? Read on to know more.
What are allergies?
Allergies develop when the body’s immune system becomes sensitized and overreacts to something in the environment that typically causes no problems in most people.
As per definition, “Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, are a number of conditions caused by hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment.
These diseases include hay fever, food allergies, atopic dermatitis, allergic asthma, and anaphylaxis”.
Causes of allergies
According to American Academy of Allergy and Immunology, our immune system controls how our body defends itself.
If you have an allergy to a specific substance, the immune system identifies that substance as an allergen, then our immune system overreacted by producing antibodies called immunoglobulin E. these antibodies travel to cells that release chemical and causing an allergic reaction.
Factors that cause allergies
There are mainly two factors that play a major in the development of seasonal allergies. These are:
- Genetic factors
- Environmental factors
Genetic factors
It means genetic background and a family history of the atopic and allergic disease has been the strongest factor for the development of allergic symptoms.
Environmental factors
Environmental factors such as increased air pollution, dust mites, pet hair, pollen grains and mold are some of the common environmental allergens that causes allergies in large number of populations.
How allergic symptoms develop? ( Pathology)
Here is an informative infographic to understand the pathology of allergies.

Who is at risk for developing allergies?
According to center for disease control and prevention, anyone may have or develop an allergy- from a baby born with an allergy to cow milk to a senior citizen who develops hives after taking any new medication. It is true that allergies cannot generally be prevented but the allergic reaction can be.
Underlying causes of allergies
There are certain underlying medical conditions such as asthma, unmanaged stress, deviated nasal septum, nasal polyps, recent trauma or illness may be act as an underlying cause of allergies.
Allergy symptoms
Though allergy symptoms can range from mild to severe. It also depends on the affected system of the body. It could be prominent respiratory or skin symptoms. The most common symptoms include:
Nasal symptoms
such as:
- Nasal congestion
- Sneezing
- Running nose
- Stuffy nose
- Postnasal drainage
- Loss of smell
Eyes symptoms
such as:
- Puffy eyes
- Itchiness
- redness in eyes or watery eyes
- Respiratory symptoms
- Difficult breathing or wheezing
- Coughing
- Scratchy throat
Ear symptoms
such as:
- Pain in ear
- Ear infection or tickling in the ears
Skin symptoms
such as hives or eczema
General symptoms
such as:
- Fatigue
- Body ache
- Headache
- Loss of appetite
- Irritability
- Mood swing
Here is an infographic that summarize allergic symptoms very well.
Limitation of conventional treatment
Though there are varieties of symptomatic treatment options are available to control the symptoms of seasonal allergies ranging from antihistamines to decongestant and steroid. These medicines relief the allergy symptoms by blocking or reducing histamine productions, but these Medications had their own limitations.
They often cause unwanted side effects, such as drowsiness, dizziness, dry mouth, restlessness, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision and confusion. Also, these medicines did not cure the allergies from root, they just relieve the symptom temporary and did not work on the root cause of disease.
While it is crucial to use conventional medicines during emergency situations, but other than that there are some natural ways are available to control the severity of annoying allergic symptoms.
What are these natural ways? How can we use these remedies at home? Will share all these information in second part of this post. Stay tuned to know more natural ways to control allergic symptoms!
Read also: https://surbhiprapanna.com/2021/09/25/can-diabetes-cause-renal-disease/
35 Comments
Alpana Deo
Every fall, I get attacked by allergies and the eyes and nose symptoms you have mentioned,I experience al of them. I dont like taking medicines so I try to stick to home remedies. Looking forward to the next posts.
-Alpana Deo
http://www.mothersguruku.com
Dr.Amrita
Allergies are definitely cause of much concern.Its wonderful that you are sharing awareness about allergies in such great detail.
admin
Thanks dear, I am glad you liked it.
Imagemakeover
Surbhi this post has come to me at the right time as I was trying to find more on this. Very recently someone in My family has an allergy and we got to know it is genetic. What worries me that it was their in the family and we got to know so late. I am looking fwd to your next post as I want to know some home remedies as a preventative measure.
admin
Yes swati, allergies run in the family and sadly there is no permanent cure. hope you will like the second part of post.
admin
yes I also do the same. hope you will like second part of post.
romagptasinha
True buddy allergies can be baffling and how I wish the allopathic medicines can be avoided. Homeopathy does help in managing them, thus will look forward to the second part of this post doc
admin
Thanks dear, I hope you will like second part of post.
Harjeet Kaur
Very interesting information, Surbhi. But i want to know how we can be allergic to something after you are 45. I am nw lactose intolerant. I wasn’t before. All my life I ate bhindi but since ten years, I just cant eat it.
Sindhu Vinod Narayan
Such a detailed post on allergies nd the symptoms to watch out for. I’m allergic to dust so is my daughter and mom. So we hve this genetically.
admin
Yes allergies run in the family.
admin
Yes dear sometimes our immune system acts weirdly even at later stage of life and we can not understand the real reason behind it. but maintaining a healthy lifestyle always help in controlling the allergy symptoms.
Sadvika Kylash
such in-depth information on this. This would be so helpful to actually know the cause and the reason for it. my husband is so allergic to peanuts and it took us a while to guess it.
admin
Thanks dear, I am glad you liked it.
Ambica Gulati
I have eczema and I don’t have any remedy for that. I look forward to your home remedies on how I can revert this. otherwise my hand is always tiching. It becomes worse in summer. This post is really helpful for people combating allergies.
admin
Thanks dear, I hope you will like the second part of post.
energeticreads
I don’t have allergies, but this post is indeed very helpful for those suffering from them. Thank you for providing information and creating awareness.
admin
Thanks dear, I am glad you liked it.
Milan Singhal
For mild allergies even I avoid medicines, but sometimes take medicine like Alerid which makes me drowsy. Shall look forward to ur next post to learn natural remedies.
admin
Thanks dear, I am glad you liked it.
Cindy Dsilva
Yeah sometimes we cannot understand what we are allergic to especially when it is something in the food. Looking forward to the natural ways to treat it.
Ruchie
Allergies are so common yet many people don’t know exactly how to go about it. This post is quite informative!
admin
Thanks dear, I hope you will like the second part of post.
Anjali
Oh!! My son is having an allergy problem, whenever there is a change in the season he faces symptoms like nasal congestion. I am giving him home remedies and homoeopathy treatment also. Waiting for your next post.
Rahul Prabhakar
I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t have an allergy. My son has allergy to sunlight and since he has atopic skin, any kind of exposure to sunlight can lead to an allergic reaction on his skin. Your post is useful to people who suffer from allergies of any kind.
Indiacafe24
Thank fully till date I am not allergic to anything be it food or any medicine but yes I known people who have it and sometimes the conditions are really painfull for them
Humaira
Allergies are definitely cause of much concern. I want to know some home remedies as a preventative measure. Great thoughts.
Gleefulblogger
Allergies could be mild or extreme, I am quite sensitive to many such allergies and as you rightly mentioned not always there is an answer to it. I have been getting hives and skin allergies every seasonal change, and homeopathy helps mostly.
Aakriti
My mother in law often gets skin allergies. And I always tell her to try home remedies instead of medicines. Will definitely share your post with her.
Jeannine
I had allergic rhinitis since I was a kid so stuff toys aren’t always my best friend. Getting pregnant with my youngest brought out more allergies on me specifically eczema which sadly was inherited by my daughter as well. Though I may say that her allergies have become more manageable. A healthy diet really help though!
Ujjwal Mishra
Allergies can be annoying and challenging if not taken care on time. My daughter has got sinus allergy as a hereditary from my dad. She sometimes has 8-10 sneezes back to back.
Hansa Kajaria
I am highly allergic to dust and will be only sneezing and get bad cold due to exposure to any form of dust. And my sneezing spree can go o for 6 to 8 sneezes at one go. ?
Ishieta
I now take allergies as part of life every time the weather changes. most medicines are so strong that they make me feel sleepy so i try to avoid! looking forward to read part 2 of this article.
MeenalSonal
Even in mild allergies, medication is needed as the patient health gets affected. Good to know more about allergies, looking forward for food allergies in detail and remedies to it.
Snigdha
Allergies are so common. For mild allergies i don’t take medicine unless it gone worse. Naturally remedies are always best for allergies.