Narrates Vardanyan Karine, dermatovenerologist, allergologist-immunologist, Head of the Department of Allergology, Head of the School of Dermatovenerology and Allergology-Immunology at EMC Medical School, Doctor of the highest category, Candidate of Medical Sciences
It is believed that allergies are a disease. In fact, allergies are not a disease in the truest sense of the word. This is a certain state of the body, a specific immune response.
It has been scientifically proven that human health is closely related to how they eat, where they live, what kind of air they breathe, how they sleep, and what they do during the day. There are circumstances in this list that cannot be changed. For example, any big city is polluted, crowded, and without humidity. The best option is to live in rural areas, where clean, fresh air, relatively moderate humidity, and fewer people. But not everyone can afford it due to life circumstances. Another example is physical activity. We must always be active, because nature has built in us a large number of muscles and organs that are regulated by these muscles. But in everyday life, we don't move enough. Therefore, muscle activity should be constant. The blood supply and functioning of the lymphatic system depend on it. And the work of the immune system depends on the lymphatic system, because they are closely related. It turns out that our immune activity depends on our physical activity. Or rather, the correct immune response. Because everything related to allergies is an incorrect immune response.
Indications for allergy treatment
Allergy is a protective reaction of the body. The immune system sends a danger signal in the form of coughing, sneezing, lacrimation, redness of the skin, rash. For each person, the danger may be different, there may even be several of them. For example, a person goes out into a blooming garden in the spring and starts sneezing, coughing, and his eyes water. His body believes that plant pollen is dangerous for him. The same person eats nuts, for example, and he has other unpleasant symptoms - itchy tongue, swollen lips, diarrhea. The body tries to get rid of nuts as soon as possible, because it considers them dangerous too. But some of the nuts are absorbed anyway, and the following manifestations begin – skin rashes. If the product is absorbed from the intestine into the blood, it spreads it throughout the body, and since the largest organ is the skin, itchy blisters begin to appear on it, which signal that something is wrong with the body. In any case, such reactions of the body cannot be ignored, they require careful diagnosis and correction. It is necessary to understand the reason why the body considers certain substances to be dangerous.
Diagnosis of allergic reactions
We often can't say for sure what caused the allergy. For example, if you consumed a lot of different foods during the day, and in the evening you had a reaction in the form of rashes. It is necessary to carry out a differential diagnosis in order to understand the source of such rashes. A person, unlike a doctor, cannot see this difference.
Allergy diagnostic methods used in EMS:
- skin prick testing
- study of specific IgE antibodies
- diagnosis of drug allergy – identification of allergies to antibiotics, local anesthetics, analgesics (painkillers) and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs;
- food intolerance test (immunohels);
- laboratory diagnostic methods;
Molecular diagnostics of allergies is the most modern method that makes it possible to identify causally significant factors of the disease as accurately and quickly as possible, even in the most difficult cases, when other types of tests turn out to be uninformative.
Diagnosis does not require special training, it is carried out even for newborns. Molecular diagnostics also makes it possible to assess the prognosis of the disease and the effectiveness of the therapy.
Allergy treatment at the EMC clinic
If the diagnosis of allergy is confirmed, the first step is to remove the symptoms in order to help a person improve their quality of life and avoid dangerous complications until the allergen is accurately diagnosed and specific therapy is initiated. This stage is necessary because, for example, swelling of the oral mucosa can lead to obstruction of the respiratory tract, a person will not be able to breathe and may die even before the cause of the allergy is diagnosed. It may take time to correctly answer the question of why the allergy occurred in this particular case, and which specific product it is associated with. Why are nuts a dangerous substance for one person, while they don't cause any reactions for another? After all, nuts themselves are a healthy product.
Allergies are of two types: exogenous and endogenous. Exogenous is associated with external causes, with some other diseases and is their consequence. For example, a reaction to a course of antibiotics or treatment for some other condition. This situation is temporary, and we can handle it. Endogenous allergies are caused by internal causes. For example, when a person carries certain genes, and their combination triggers certain immune states at a certain moment. For example, autoimmune processes, when the body can secrete antibodies not only to the antigens of nuts, but also, for example, to its own organs, and then serious diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, collagenosis, autoimmune thyroiditis develop, and here the diet is not limited.
Unfortunately, with all the achievements of modern diagnosis and treatment, there are conditions in which the patient is forced to completely exclude certain foods from the diet. It may even be breast milk from infants. If the product is proven to be dangerous to the body, it may not just be a threat of skin reactions, but a risk of triggering autoimmune processes and the development of more serious diseases.
In some cases, it is possible to influence allergies at the genetic level. There are biological drugs that correct the general violation of the immune status, the so-called monoclonal antibodies. They are used when it comes to serious autoimmune conditions: psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, bronchial asthma. In such situations, interference with the immune status is justified.
There is a new allergy treatment method that has proven its effectiveness. This is allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT), or allergy vaccination. The allergen is gradually introduced into the body in small quantities and a gradual increase in the production of antibodies to the antigen of this product has a positive effect. Over time, a person stops reacting to this allergen. АСИТ it is used for the treatment of pollinosis (seasonal allergy), allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis, food allergies, mild bronchial asthma.
In case of drug allergies, even the fact that the allergy manifests itself at the moment when various flowers and herbs or seeds are in bloom is a provoking factor, which is already very important information for the doctor. Many medicines, even those that are synthesized artificially, contain medicinal herbs or their substitutes with a very similar structure in terms of antigenicity. They can cause the production of antibodies. With a multivalent drug allergy, it makes no sense to conduct therapy for each allergen individually. In this case, pills or injections are used that completely suppress the immune response to the entire range of substances. This may be important if a person is going to have an emergency operation and there is no time for diagnosis and long-term treatment. One injection suppresses the entire allergic reaction that would occur to medications.
Allergists of the European Medical Center
Every person should visit an allergist at least once in their life, it is recommended to do this in childhood. A person should know if they are allergic and to which substances. It is advisable to always have this information with you and provide access to it in an emergency. It can save a life. Unfortunately, there are situations when a person is saved from a serious illness, a successful complicated operation is performed, and then a drug to which he is allergic is injected, and the patient dies. This is only due to a lack of information.
When going to consult an allergist, you need to prepare for a big meaningful conversation. Tell in detail not only about yourself, but also about your relatives. It is advisable to study the family history of allergies in advance.
The sooner the doctor receives all the necessary information, the more he can prevent the development of more aggressive forms.
Benefits of allergy treatment at the European Medical Center
- Modern diagnostic and treatment methods with proven effectiveness
- Doctors with extensive work experience and internships abroad
- The fastest and most accurate diagnosis
- Personalized therapy selection
- If necessary, the possibility of additional consultation by any specialist
- The second opinion of the country's leading allergologists
You can make an appointment by phone or by filling out the form on the website.
A consultation with an allergist-immunologist costs 167 euros (payment in rubles at the exchange rate of the Central Bank on the day of payment).
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