Allergies may be caused by the very system that is supposed to protect us.

Allergies are the result of a hypersensitive immune system. The allergic immune system misidentifies an otherwise innocuous substance as harmful, and then attacks the substance with ferocity far greater than required. The problems that allergies can cause range from mildly inconvenient and uncomfortable to the total failure of the organism the immune system is supposed to be protecting.

Lymphocytes, also known as white blood cells are a fundamental component of the immune system, and when they make a mistake it can create allergies and an allergic response. When a lymphocyte encounters a particle or cell that is identified as a foreign invader, it performs a microscopic version of taking fingerprints of the invader. After a B-cell identifies an antigen, it will make its way back to a lymph node and produce antibodies specifically engineered to fight that particular threat.

The principal class of antibodies that participates in allergic reactions that result in allergies is immunoglobulin E, known as IgE. Within the body of those suffering from allergies, IgE antibodies are attached either to a type of circulating white blood cell called a basophil, or to mast cells. When IgE antibodies encounter the allergen they are designed to combat, they signal the basophils or mast cells to unleash histamine and other potent chemicals into the site of allergen invasion.

These mediating chemicals-mainly histamine- instigate the distressful symptoms by which we recognize allergies. Histamine released in the nose, eyes, and sinuses, for example, stimulates sneezing, a runny nose, and itchiness; released in the lungs, it narrows and swells the lining of the airways and increases mucus secretion; in the skin it raises rashes and hives; in the digestive system it provokes stomach cramps and diarrhea.

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