S.Munkhbayrlakh: Allergies cannot be cured
-In recent years allergies have begun to affect large numbers of people. What is the reason?
-Data from several sources indicate a sharp worldwide increases in allergies over the last 30-40 years and the prevalence is escalating to epidemic proportions. Allergies existed before, but previously did not affect massive numbers of people. According to research, one out of four people in European countries suffer from an allergy. Around 300 million people in the world are suffering from asthma and the figure may rise to 400 million by 2025, says the World Health Organization (WHO). The type and amount of allergies are on the rise. Relatively fewer people in developing countries suffer from allergies compared with people from highly developed countries. It is interesting that there are higher incidences of allergies among people who come from highly developed countries than from developing countries. In particular, the majority of people who live in foreign countries such as the United Kingdom, USA, Japan and South Korea, tend to suffer from allergies. This suggests that the allergy is a disease that follows civilization and development. In the last two to three decades the world has developed rapidly and the prevalence of allergies has risen along with world development.
-So, it is true that the allergy is a globalization disease?
-As it happens, a marked increase in allergies is what led scientists to the hygiene hypothesis. In essence, the hygiene hypothesis suggests that regular exposure to allergens early in life may help bolster one’s immune system against developing allergies. On the flip side, this means that a clinical environment (i.e., the overly clean conditions that are possible and more common in Western nations such as the United States) may be linked to the rise of allergies.
For example, there are less people with allergic reactions in Mongolia who live in the countryside. They don’t follow a hygiene regime. Herders who live in the countryside barely wash their hands. The things that they use and eat in everyday life are not sanitized products. They don’t drink bottled water like metropolitans; they drink water from underground or rivers. Thus, there is less allergy occurrence among countryside residents.
-Are allergies inseparably associated with the immune system?
-The immune system protects the body from diseases by attacking anything foreign to it. An immune system is a system of biological structures and processes within an organism that protects against disease. It normally protects you against foreign bacteria and viruses. Many asthmatics are atopic (an inherited predisposition towards an allergy) where your system normally develops an exaggerated response to certain foreign substances or allergens. Your body's system normally senses these allergens, perceives them as foreign, and begins to prepare to fight off them off as a foreign intruder.
There are 5 types of antibodies such as Immunoglobulin A, M, G, D and E. Immunoglobulin E increases during an allergic reaction. It is an immunity protein. High amounts of this immunity protein lead to allergic reactions.
-You have mentioned that one out of four people in European countries suffer from an allergy. How about Mongolia?
-The latest research in Mongolia indicates that asthma exposure is at 5% among Ulaanbaatar residents. It means 5 people out of 100 suffer from asthma, while nasal allergy inflammation is at 24%. The rate of allergic recipients is getting high. But the allergy rate among people who live in the countryside is less than two or three times this.
-People believe that allergies are caused by poor immune systems. But in reality this is not true?
-There is a misconception that allergic reactions occur when the immune system weakens. When the human immune system gets sick, it changes and its functions distort like other organs. Sometimes the functioning of the immune system becomes less active when it weakens. In that situation a person gets colds easily and wound may festers. A human’s body becomes vulnerable to furuncles and skin infections. In such a way, the inactive condition of an immune system becomes apparent. But allergic reactions occur when an immune system becomes more active.
Allergies occur when the body's protective immune system works overtime - responding too vigorously to foreign materials that enter the body so that the body's usual defenses cause uncomfortable or even dangerous symptoms. Normally, the immune system is on a continuous search and destroy mission to get rid of infectious agents that enter the body. These body defenses will detect, surround, and respond to minimize the damage done by foreign materials that penetrate the skin and mucous membrane barriers. In an allergic reaction, these body defenses over-react to a relatively harmless foreign substance.
Autoimmune diseases arise from an inappropriate immune response of the body against substances and tissues normally present in the body. In other words, the immune system mistakes some part of the body as a pathogen and attacks its own cells.
-How many types of allergies are detected in Mongolia?
There are many types of allergies, but the most common include: Food Allergies, Anaphylaxis, Respiratory Allergies, Contact Allergies and Insect Sting Allergies.
Symptoms of a food allergy usually occur within minutes after ingesting the food allergen, although some may not occur for several hours. The symptoms may be isolated only to areas around the mouth, lips and digestive tract, or they may involve other areas of the body. Foods that most commonly cause allergic reactions include milk, eggs, nuts, fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat.
Anaphylaxis is a sudden, severe, and potentially fatal allergic reaction with symptoms that affect various areas of the body. Symptoms usually appear very quickly after exposure to the allergen and can include intense itching all over the body, total body swelling, respiratory distress and can even lead to shock that is life threatening. Immediate medical attention is required. Anaphylaxis is most frequently caused by food, drug, or insect sting allergies.
Symptoms of respiratory allergies usually occur within the first few hours after exposure and are generally trigged by airborne allergens such as plant pollens, animal dander, dust mites, and mold spores.
Symptoms of a contact allergy usually occur within 30 minutes after exposure to the allergen, although symptoms may take up to several hours to appear. Common contact allergens include poison oak and poison ivy, latex, rubber, nickel, preservatives, dyes, medications, fragrances, and cosmetics such as hair dye and perfume. Nickel, a metal very commonly used in jewelry, buttons, hairpins, metal clips, zippers and snaps, is the source of much misery for those allergic to it. Exposure to the sun can also cause reactions.
Symptoms of an insect sting allergy usually occur within the first 15 to 30 minutes after the sting, although symptoms may take up to several hours to appear. Insect venoms that most commonly cause allergic reactions are from bees, wasps, hornets, yellow jackets and fire ants.
-Many children suffer from dermatitis in Mongolia. Is dermatitis related to allergies?
-Some children can eat anything and everything or smell flowers, and will never have any problems.
However, on the other hand, some children will eat a little extra candy and will immediately suffer the effects dermatitis. Why does this happen? Many children are born with a disposition to allergies; this is called atopy.
Atopy will affect a child for life, and in small children it may manifest in an allergy.
The predisposition exists in the body of the child due to its heredity nature. That is, if a child has a hereditary disposition to an allergy; dermatitis, and so on, then they are likely to develop. The atopy can vary. For example, it can manifest itself when coming into contact with something, or when taking medication, through plants, dust, and so on. Eventually an atopy may develop into a more serious form. This may be an allergic rhinitis or bronchial asthma. It can happen that some forms of allergy will be present simultaneously in a child.
Dermatitis may begin to appear in the child within the first months of life. It has three stages. The first – infant, the second - child, and the last – teen or adult. All these forms of dermatitis’ occur with pauses, and sometimes when the child grows the disease may go away on its own.
In the first months of life infant dermatitis can be observed. It may appear as a dry and weeping sores.
Symptoms for a weeping dermatitis include redness, severe itching, elevation, the appearance of blisters on the skin. When these bubbles burst the affected remaining skin can stay wet. Many areas will be covered by a crust or scabbing. Dermatitis can occur on any area of the body. Sometimes, because of open wounds the blood can become infected. If this happens, pustules may appear on the skin. The dry and weeping dermatitis can also combine together, and it can develop from one type of infant dermatitis turn into another.
From two to about twelve years old it may progress into the teenage form of dermatitis. This form is characterized by increased sweating and redness in the folds of skin, itching, rash, or even the appearance of scales.
At fifteen years the dermatitis usually goes away. If it does not it will develop into the adult stage, which is also known as neurodermatitis. In this case, the skin in some areas (most often on the elbows, crotch, thighs, and so on) becomes dry and tough. Itchiness and grooves are common.
-Is there a cure for allergies?
-There is no cure for an allergy, however, the symptoms can be treated.
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