Interesting Facts About Allergies

More and more people around the world suffer from allergies, especially young people. The question therefore arises as to how an allergy develops on an evolutionary level. Find out more about it today.

Many of us know what it means to have an allergic reaction. Because there are more and more people who suffer from it: it is  estimated that around 30 to 40 percent of the world’s population will be affected at some point in their life. But how do allergies develop?

Not all news is negative, because even if allergies are very annoying, an evolutionary key that is significant for us humans could be hidden behind them. It is a reaction of the immune system that tries to fight off certain substances, even if these are mostly harmless. This reaction gives rise to typical signs and symptoms. 

The antibodies in the immune system of a person with an allergy  identify harmless substances in the environment as potentially dangerous and therefore try to expel them. This leads to different degrees of swelling in the paranasal sinuses or the skin, the digestive system or other parts of the body.

The question arises as to  why our own immune system reacts this way and tries to defend itself in harmless situations by overreacting. To learn more about this, let’s take a closer look at the role allergies play in human evolution.

How do allergies develop?

The real functions of an allergic allergy are still a matter of debate and need to be further explored. One of the hypotheses looks for the reasons in hygiene, which assumes that allergies will spread worldwide because there is a lack of real pathogens. 

A study published in the journal Plos Computational Biology suggests that certain proteins present in elements we have daily contact with are very similar to those found in parasites.

The lack of activity of our immune system in contact with these harmful organisms could lead our immune system to interpret any other, similar signal as a possible danger and therefore lead to allergic reactions.

The aforementioned study contains evidence to support this hypothesis:

• In the laboratory, the research team monitored the reaction of antibodies to a protein from the Schistosoma mansoni parasite  . This protein is very similar to the proteins found in birch pollen.
• The same antibodies responsible for eliminating the parasite’s protein also responded to birch pollen.

While these results are simple, they  give us a lot of information. It is possible that the lack of real enemies causes the immune system to produce its own.

Perhaps a not so random answer

This hypothesis sounds plausible and also seems to be scientifically supported. But there are other possible explanations for allergies. 

Various studies, which have been summarized in an article in the journal Scientific American , suggest that the allergic reactions are by no means random. This theory assumes that an allergy could protect us from toxins in the environment: 

• In one of the studies, mice were given small amounts of venom as a vaccine and, after a few weeks, a slightly more concentrated amount of the same venom. Other mice, however, received concentrated doses directly.

• It was found that the mice that received small doses reacted with a much stronger immune response than those that received only concentrated amounts and no vaccination.
• The administration of the initially small dose acted like a vaccination on the mice. They were able to develop antibodies to specific allergens in preparation for more serious situations in the future.

What could this mean?

The interpretation of these study results could also mean that our body is preparing for really dangerous situations by vomiting, shortness of breath or other symptoms. 

This could help our immune system prepare for other, more serious, reactions while trying to tell us to avoid the allergens.

In theory, this could mean that an allergy develops as an evolutionary mechanism. Through experience with harmful substances  , we may have learned as a species how to avoid more serious risk situations. Plus, it could also mean that our immune systems are training with minor allergic episodes to prepare for more serious dangers.

Why do allergies develop? A riddle for which we don’t have an answer yet

As we have seen today,  there are various theories about the functions of an allergy and how it develops. We are still not certain about these hypotheses, the real causes and the development of allergies are still a mystery.