What are allergies?
Allergies represent an overreaction by the immune system. In a true allergy, the immune system responds to particles called antigens from normally harmless substances as if they were pathogenic invaders. The inflammatory response mounted by the immune system against an allergen can be serious, even life threatening. In cases where the immune system mounts a more conservative response to an allergen, a person may experience mild symptoms like headache, watery eyes and runny nose.
How do you strengthen your body to fight allergies?
Allergies often have a genetic basis, so there is little that can be done to mitigate the allergic tendency. However, in milder cases, immunotherapy or exposure therapy under the supervision of a qualified healthcare provider may ameliorate an overzealous immune system. Immunotherapy should not be attempted without qualified supervision. In general, eating a healthy diet, exercising and maintaining a healthy weight—all of which discourage an inflammatory state in the body—may reduce the tendency toward inflammatory immune-mediated reactions. However, evidence is far from conclusive. Some preliminary studies suggest vitamin D supplementation may reduce symptoms of certain types of mild allergies, but the overall evidence is inconclusive.
What allergies do you develop later in life?
Aging is associated with declining and potentially aberrant immune system function. This is known as immune senescence. Aging people may experience diminished efficacy of vaccines and a propensity toward immune-mediated inflammatory conditions, which may include some types of allergies. There is no conclusive evidence to suggest aging is associated with any particular allergy, but autoimmune diseases, systemic inflammation and allergic conditions in general may arise in the context of immune senescence. Some allergies, like atopic dermatitis and anaphylactic reactions to food allergens, appear to be less common with advancing age. However, one concern for aging people is drug allergy, which may be more of a concern in the context of multiple drugs (polypharmacy)—a common issue amongst older people.
