Re: Shellfish Allergies Re: Grass or sand apes

From: Su Solomon (susol_at_zemail.com)
Date: 07/28/04 

Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2004 16:39:45 +1000

Evelyne Stalzer wrote:
>
> On Tue, 27 Jul 2004, Su Solomon <susol@zemail.com.> wrote:
>
> >One must also make a distinction between an allergy (which is instantly
> >life threatening) and an "intolerance" which can make you sick and your
> >life a misery but rarely kills you outright.
>
> Hello, Su. We haven't met yet. My name is Evelyne (eh-veh-lee-neh).
> Ive been catching up with this group (I used to read it regularly
> before a car accident rearranged my priorities for me) and noticed
> your distinction between allergy and intolerance.
>
> Perhaps you were thinking of the severe allergic reaction called
> anaphylactic shock, which is indeed life-threatening. However, it is
> not the only kind of allergic reaction. What they all have in common
> is the mechanism - it is a response of the immune system to a
> substance (the allergen) to which the body has become sensitized.
>
> Take a look at
> http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000005.htm
> for some discussion of allergic reactions, including the following
> quotes:
> "Many allergic reactions are mild and can be treated at home, while
> others can be severe and life-threatening."
> "In fact, the immune response that causes an allergic reaction is
> similar to that which causes hayfever."
>
> More detailed discussion of allergic response can be found at
> http://www.aaaai.org/patients/publicedmat/tips/whatisallergicreaction.stm
> which is part of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and
> Immunology.
>
> On the other hand, "intolerance" as it was used in this thread sounds
> more like a metabolic pathway, such as lactose intolerance (lactase
> deficiency).
>
> And then to make things more confusing, as I was looking a few things
> up for this, I ran across celiac disease (gluten intolerance) which is
> actually a heritable immune response.
>
> Evelyne

I am glad you got that all sorted out : )

Cheers,

Su