Common Allergies
What are some common allergies?
When we talk about common allergies in general, most people tend to think of common allergies such as hay fever and other seasonal common allergies. But common allergies come in many shapes and sizes including asthma, hay fever (common seasonal allergies), allergies to pet dander such as dog hair, cat hair and other animal hair. In addition, common allergies can also mean allergies even to medicine or prescription medicine. How many times has your doctor or health care provider asked you if you were allergic to any medicine? Quite a bit I’m willing to bet. Also, there are other common allergies such as allergies to particular fabrics such as leather or latex. Lastly and possibly most important is that one of the most common allergies that more and more children are suffering from is food allergies such as peanut allergy, milk allergy or more often in adults, shellfish allergy.
Common Allergies – Seasonal
Seasonal allergies, sometimes called “hay fever” or seasonal allergic rhinitis, are allergy symptoms that occur during certain times of the year, usually when outdoor molds release their spores or trees, grasses, and weeds release tiny pollen particles into the air to fertilize other plants.
Common Allergies – Medicine
Many times when a person has a doctor’s visit or surgery, one of the questions that is asked in a preliminary consultation is whether or not they are allergic to any medicines. Many people are not even aware of these common allergies and have never asked themselves, “what am I allergic to“? Who thinks to wonder if they are allergic to medicines like penicillin, antibiotics or others. It is crucial to understand these common allergies as they can often times be serious if not life threatening.
Common Allergies – Food
More and more frequently it seems, people are developing or finding out that one of the most common allergies, and one that is on the increase, is food allergies. These can involve peanut allergies, milk allergies, egg allergy and also allergies to shellfish such as lobster, crab, mollusk, prawns, shrimp and more. Even regular seafood is on the rise with allergies. In fact, seafood allergies affect almost 7 million people in the United States. People with food allergies must take particular care when they are eating in restaurants. Even though they might not be eating food that they are allergic to, many times their meal has been prepared with utensils or the like that have been used to cook foods that they in fact are allergic to.
There can be serious health risks for these people which run from swollen tongue or face to severe reactions such as anaphylaxis. This is a condition that requires an extremely fast response and in fact, many people with food allergies carry a device known as an Epi Pen to aide them in case of this reaction.
In conclusion, common allergies can range from mild to extreme and must be kept under control whether through medications such as Astepro, Flonase or others or by allergy shots done by an allergist or other doctor. Food allergies must be taken care of by your doctor and must always be considered serious.