What are Allergies and Sensitivities?
Allergies are responses mounted by the immune system to a particular food, inhalant
(airborne substance), or chemical. In popular terminology, the terms “allergies”
and “sensitivities” are often used to mean the same thing, although many
sensitivities are not true allergies. The term “sensitivity” is general and may
include true allergies, reactions that do not affect the immune system (and therefore are not
technically allergies), and reactions for which the cause has yet to be determined.
Some non-allergic types of sensitivity are called intolerances and may be caused by toxins,
enzyme inadequacies, drug-like chemical reactions, psychological associations, and other
mechanisms.1 Examples of well-understood intolerances are lactose intolerance and phenylketonuria. Environmental sensitivity or
intolerance are terms sometimes used for reactions to chemicals found either indoors or
outdoors in food, water, medications, cosmetics, perfumes, textiles, building materials, and
plastics. Detecting allergies and other sensitivities and then eliminating or reducing
exposure to the sources is often a time-consuming and challenging task that is difficult to
undertake without the assistance of an expert.
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