Causes Anaphylaxis

What Causes Anaphylaxis?

Anaphylaxis is the severe allergic reaction that can turn deadly if left untreated. People who are allergic to food, medication, insects, and latex are especially at risk. These things can be difficult to avoid, and they are often hidden, so accidental exposure is common.

There are some known causes of anaphylaxis that will help avoid the things that contain the allergens you, or your children, are sensitive to. If you have children with allergies in your family, the best thing you can do is to educate anyone whose care they may be left in. Babysitters, day care centers, schools, Sunday schools, grandparents, and anyone else who may care for them or be the authority figure where they spend time, should know what their allergies are, what to avoid exposing them to, and how to treat them if they have a severe reaction.

Another group who are especially at risk is people who have asthma or other respiratory symptoms with their allergies. Making sure the asthma is kept under control, and that there is always a rescue inhaler in your possession, can cut down on the chance of having an anaphylaxis attack.

Another cause of anaphylaxis is an allergy to physical exercise. Exercise induced anaphylaxis has different symptoms than other attacks. The symptoms include fatigue, warmth that is diffused, pruritus (a sensation similar to itching on the skin), erythema (redness from capillaries being congested), and hives. Exercise induced anaphylaxis most often happens after eating or taking NSAIDS type of medication.

If you know you have an allergy to food, medication, insect stings, or latex, or you are asthmatic as a response to your allergies, you should carry an EpiPen with you. This is a self injection that contains epinephrine as its main ingredient. Epinephrine is the medication that is most often used to treat severe allergic reactions. Using it in an emergency would buy the necessary time to get the medical help needed.

Occasionally there are anaphylaxis attacks that are unexplainable. The cause of anaphylaxis is sometimes never found. The more knowledge there is about anaphylaxis, the more people can be helped if there is an attack.

For more information, visit Allergy Anaphylaxis.