4 ms·
Ok, I scanned through quickly, but here is the conclusions as far as I can tell. Allergies has an important function. The problem is the severity of it. A weak
by jernfrost 10y ago
Ok, I scanned through quickly, but here is the conclusions as far as I can tell.
Allergies has an important function. The problem is the severity of it. A weak allergic reaction is what protects us from toxins, viruses etc, however for some reason the system goes in overdrive in some people and that is not good.
It might seem like there is no significant difference between this an previous understanding. But the significance as far as I can tell is that previously we thought all allergic reactions no matter how small was useless and wrong by the body. The idea was that any allergic reaction is a misfiring, while this idea suggests it isn't firing which is the problem it is the magnitude which is the problem.
- rglullis 10y agoFrom TFA: But understanding the purpose of allergies could lead to dramatic changes in how they’re treated. “One implication of our view is that any attempt to completely block allergic defences would be a bad idea,” he said. Instead, allergists should be learning why a minority of people turn a protective response into a hypersensitive one. “It’s the same as with pain,” said Medzhitov. “No pain at all is deadly; normal pain is good; too much pain is bad.”