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CrazyisNSFW t1_j75sd1q wrote

Gross oversimplification: After being exposed to allergen, your body creates memory of it. First exposure is usually mild, you may not even notice it. But your body creates memory as a defense mechanism. Next time you're exposed to allergens, your body gives stronger and quicker response. That's why your allergy reaction can be worse with time.

With desensitization, you're exposed to allergens in such a small dose that you're not reacting to it. Desensitization tricks your body into thinking that the allergen is just a normal thing in environment and you tolerate (desensitized?) the allergens better with time. Of course this is not possible (yet) for every allergens and you should be under close supervision in case something goes wrong and you have severe reaction.

Immunology is really complex but amazing science field.

PS: if you're interested, probably you should search for "Type I (IgE-mediated) hypersensitivity".

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heteromer t1_j75t3e2 wrote

I read a book on molecular and cellular immunology one holiday and it was such a fantastic read. I definitely developed an interest in it.

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CrazyisNSFW t1_j7783ge wrote

Me too! I needed to open my immunology textbook to answer this question. It's nice to review and revise knowledge

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Ashiro t1_j77mlpc wrote

Kurzgesagt did a great video and follow up book about the immune system if anyone's interested. I highly recommend it: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Immune-Kurzgesagt-gorgeously-illustrated-immune/dp/1529360684

The video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXfEK8G8CUI&vl=en-GB

I've always been fascinated by immunology. You have the most powerful military in the world swimming inside you. It's truly awe-inspiring.

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vrts t1_j78vb7p wrote

You just reminded me that I bought the book and left it on the shelf without reading it. Time to take a look!

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rpsls t1_j78n559 wrote

You definitely do react to allergy shots. The first shots gave me giant welts on the underside of my arm. But you take antihistamine with it, and the reaction doesn’t turn into an over-reaction. It’s a very specific dosing regimen (injected into a specific spot) to ensure that the immune system can see it, but not overreact. That’s the level at which the immune system starts to slowly see it as normal and non-threatening.

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CrazyisNSFW t1_j7ut9gf wrote

You're right. For some, the reaction is mild, but for some others it can be dangerous. That's why it requires close medical supervision, in case something goes wrong.

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sik_dik t1_j78k4g3 wrote

I just want to build an immunity to urushiol.. but from what I've read online, exposure for the allergic just makes things worse :(

I'm highly allergic to it

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Hidden_Armadillo t1_j7dfal8 wrote

Can this work with auto immune reaction responses such as celiac/gluten sensitivity?

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Indemnity4 t1_j7dldsx wrote

Non-celiac gluten sensitivity - Yes. Allergen specific immunotherapy. You wait 1-2 years on a gluten-free (or close enough) diet then slowly start to re-introduce low amounts of gluten.

Celiac - no. Studies trying antigen-specific immunotheraphy have all failed. Those people are usually missing an important gene in their DNA - difference from above is it was never working, not that it went bad over time and needs help recovering. Most future therapies are targeting the immune system response itself and silencing or inhibiting some part of the process.

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sunlitupland5 t1_j761skf wrote

Need also to consider gut microbiome diversity when looking at immune reaction. Research is still in early stage but theoretically the greater the diversity the less likely immune system is to over react to a perceived threat

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Imaginary-Benefit-54 t1_j76rf6y wrote

How would one go to explore broadening the diversity?

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raziel686 t1_j778img wrote

Be weary of generalities online. Gut biome is an interesting area of study, but we haven't done enough studies and what you hear are mostly small studies that get played up in the media like they are hard science when really they are just to help direct and improve further studies. They were never meant to set any guidelines or direct people to action. We aren't there yet, and with how different everyone's body is with this, it'll likely be a while before anything definitive is suggested to people.

So to answer your question, we don't know. Because gut biomes vary significantly from person to person and will even change over time, and we wouldn't know what you need or don't need or if you're fine as is, it would require a lot of work to try and figure out what might help you if you're having problems. You'd need testing done of a clinical environment.

If you are having gut issues though, consuming good live culture bacteria found in things like yogurt is beneficial. Greek yogurt is the one you hear about most because it has less sugar. This is a standard reccomendation for people going on antibiotics as they don't discriminate which bacteria they kill and putting ones we know help digestion back can reduce side effects of antibiotics.

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Imaginary-Benefit-54 t1_j77c8dw wrote

I really appreciate the thorough response and taking the time thank you! Very interesting indeed and great to have a perspective that isn’t just the medias take.

What would be good sources worth trying for someone who doesn’t get on with the typical pro biotics which dairy based?

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raziel686 t1_j77irwp wrote

No problem. There are definitely options for you. Off the top of my head, Kombucha is a big one. Fermented foods like kimchi and saurkraut. Miso is another one. Generally any good probiotic will need to be kept cold, though there are exceptions. Be wary of room temperature pill based ones, their efficacy is iffy.

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Imaginary-Benefit-54 t1_j77rxrd wrote

Thank you! I really do appreciate it and will step off from here and investigate further. You’re the best!

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perta1234 t1_j77juof wrote

Not sure about importance of that compared to larger parasites. One famous ethical problems in science was that people were given infection of... I think it was pig roundworm in stomach. It cannot procreate in human. But the people lost their allergies. So now the ethical question was, do people participating experiment get to keep the worm that is beneficial to them. Anyway, one hypothesis is that allergies are due to lack of parasites when we have a system to fight against them.

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ontopofyourmom t1_j77pyv0 wrote

I had terrible cat allergies when I was a kid. Lived with cats in my 20s they mostly went away. Started dating a girl with a cat in my late 30s, they came back and went away again. Got a couple cats a couple years later, of a bread that's supposed to be "hypoallergenic" (bengals) and had my first asthma attack with strong allergies ever since.

Idk how it works but modern OTC allergy meds are stronk enough that I can kiss their sweet bellies whenever I want. Pic related.

https://i.imgur.com/Vxkx1kE.jpg

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nasalemons t1_j75ljw6 wrote

So this is a gross simplification but some allergens get worse over time because the more you are episodes to it the higher chance your body can create a reaction to it. And with desensitization basically you start with a teeny tiny dose we hope that you don’t react to and very slowly increase it to a point where you may have a mild rash or very mild itchy throat but it’s ok overall

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MEsyas t1_j770his wrote

Basically, your body sees the allergen as a pathogen and makes antibodies. The more exposure, the more antibodies.

In desensitisation, the allergen is given in very small amounts so that the antibodies don't react. And desensitization doesn't always work: I was one of the people for whom it failed miserably.

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[deleted] t1_j75jaeg wrote

[removed]

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