Italian version

Until recently, it was thought that allergy was a defective mechanism, that is, that the body was doing something new (and wrong) when it came into contact with substances to which it was sensitized.  In reality, even the antibodies that are responsible for the allergic expressions are simply performing their normal, physiological function.

An allergy should be interpreted as a signal that warns of an imbalanced state and when it appears it's necessary to look for the causes behind the loss of control, without making the responsible pollen or food the only scapegoats for the problem.

When the symptoms of an allergy or intolerance appear it means that in that body, the ability to regulate the phenomenon does not function and therefore the normal defense mechanisms that usually give rise to a controlled inflammatory reaction have become so intense and important as to cause harm to the entire body in a way that can be quite serious.

The immunological regulation of the entire body works in a way that is somewhat similar to the gas in a stove: if the exhaust valve is well regulated, you can cook food on a daily basis, but if the gas regulator suddenly becomes defective, the kitchen can explode, burn the wall or even make the whole apartment blow up.

Immediate allergies manifest themselves in a precise manner: they are immediate (they arise within a few minutes, and very rarely within a few hours, of the time at which one comes into contact with the enemy substance) and they depend upon the IgE and the mast cells.  Until 2004 these were the only reactions that were considered allergic.  Now, instead, even those which were previously defined as intolerances are scientifically defined as delayed food allergies.

Immediacy of reaction and the presence of IgE and mast cells are present in the majority of respiratory allergies (that is, hay fever, weed induced asthma, composite induced conjunctivitis and other similar forms); these phenomena are rarely found when there are symptoms that resemble allergy but are instead due to the ingestion of foods and especially in the presence of mixed forms of hypersensitivity. In these cases, the "alternative route " of the allergy comes more easily into play.

Doctor Attilio Speciani
Clinical Allergist and Immunologist

Italian version