While you may never have experienced food or seasonal allergies as a child, immunologists and allergists know that almost half of all people are born with a genetic tendency toward allergies.

In fact, that head cold with its runny nose and sneezing that won’t go away may actually be an allergy instead.

What exactly pulls the trigger of your first allergic reaction is largely unknown.


We tend to develop allergies as we grow older. Statistically, allergies are increasingly more prevalent among kids and adults alike.

Maybe the suppressed immunity is a subsequent reaction to our anti-bacterial-crazed, squeaky-clean lifestyles that challenge our immune systems less and less as we grow more sterile. Other experts say that pollution and global warming are also to blame.

In our polluted indoor and outdoor environments, we’re exposed to thousands of substances that assault our immune systems, sometimes causing a reaction.

We get stuffy noses, headaches, ear pain, and itchy throats and eyes, and we may cough or sneeze a lot or develop chest congestion—all of which can be pretty miserable. And experts say that having an allergy makes you three times as likely to develop asthma.

Allergies are usually just harmless but annoying reactions to food and substances in our world to which we’ve developed sensitivity, like milk, nuts, eggs, pollen or dust. But in some people allergies can lead to more troubling health complications including chronic ear infections, sinusitis and even asthma.

When you encounter something to which you’re allergic, your immune system responds with a false alarm, in an attempt to sabotage the culprit, starting a chain of reactions through your body that basically render it a histamine factory. You know this is happening because you start to get hit with the cascade of annoying symptoms.

During the last two decades, an emerging condition known as pollen food allergy syndrome (PFAS) has increased in prevalence, along with simple pollen allergies. PFAS involves allergies to certain fresh fruits, vegetables or nuts, including apples, peaches, apricots, cherries, plums, pears, hazelnuts, carrots, celery, parsley, caraway, fennel, coriander, aniseed, soybeans and peanuts.

These foods can cause a release of immunoglobulin E (IgE) in our body, which then triggers the allergic reaction. Cooking often destroys the culprit, though.

Top Allergy Triggers

• Pollen
• Dust mites
• Mold spores
• Pet dander
• Food
• Insect stings
• Medicines

Adults tend to ignore allergies—passing them off as colds. But if your symptoms last for more than a week, you’ve likely got an allergy rather than the sniffles.

Your healthcare provider will ask you questions to determine the offending substance, like whether you’ve just started or finished a new medication, started spending more time outdoors in the spring or fall, drink milk or eat a lot of nuts, particularly since people tend to develop seasonal or food allergies as they age.

Your first line of prevention will be to avoid whatever gave you the allergic reaction in the first place—which is easy when it’s one food, like shellfish, but not so easy when it’s springtime pollen or your family’s beloved pet.

To treat your symptoms, and to block future offenders, there are a number of both over-the-counter and prescription drugs you can try, like antihistamines, corticosteroids and nasal sprays. Nasal steroids are effective, but they can irritate your nose or make your voice hoarse over time.

Allergy shots, which are given after allergy testing, are another line of defense. In addition, some promising results have been associated with acupuncture in controlling allergies.


Antihistamines are your first and best line of defense against allergies because they block histamine, the inflammatory chemical your immune system floods your body with during an allergic reaction. They can make you sleepy, but the more commonly used ones, such as loratadine (Claritin), fexofenadine (Allegra), desloratadine (Clarinex) and cetirizine (Zyrtec), have fewer side effects, and Claritin and Zyrtec are available without a prescription

Corticosteroids help prevent and treat the inflammation associated with allergic conditions; your healthcare provider may add this as a second line of defense

Decongestants relieve nasal and sinus congestion but repeated use can result in rebound congestion worse than the first bout

Cromolyn sodium (Nasalcrom) is available without prescription and can be used daily to help prevents the release of histamine.

About the Author: Kathy Furniss, NP, is a nurse practitioner in New Jersey.