An allergy can affect anyone

She would never have believed it - not even if a doctor had told her. "An allergy? If I haven't had one by the age of 42, then I won't get one now," she thought. But it is possible to be mistaken - even at the age of 42. Maria K. first noticed it as she was cleaning her apartment one Friday as usual. It started with a feeling of pressure over the eye. Then she wanted to scratch. Finally came a terrible sensation of itchiness right on top of her cornea. "It was so bad," she now recounts, "that I wanted to scratch my eye out."

When Maria K. went to the doctor, she could hardly see him. Her eye had swollen up so much that all there was left for her to see through was a narrow slit. What she didn't realize at the time is that her trips to the doctor would continue for a year and a half, that she would have test solutions applied to the back of her hand and that her treatment would finally come to an end when she discovered that she was apparently unable to tolerate house dust and birch pollen. She now knows even more. She is allergic to the leaves of the weeping fig (ficus benjamina), including the ones she had picked up from the floor of her apartment that Friday morning, of course.

Maria K. now knows the cause of the allergy from which she suffers - all she has to do now is avoid it. And with pollen, that's not so easy. After all, hay-fever sufferers can hardly seal themselves off hermetically from the world - even if they'd like to.

Glosary

Allergens
Substances which are perceived as foreign by the body and which trigger an allergic immune response. Initially, this means that the immune system produces what are known as "IgE antibodies".

Hay fever
A misleading term because it is a not a condition associated with fever nor is it caused by hay. Rather, it is an allergic reaction of the body to certain proteins present mainly in the air when grasses or trees are in flower. There are also other types of allergy to substances such as house dust, molds, chemicals and foods.

IgE antibodies
Antibodies are substances produced by the body for immune defense. They recognize unwanted foreign bodies, in response to which they trigger the body's immune system. According to their basic chemical structure, antibodies are also known as immunoglobulins. They are divided into various classes (A, D, E, G, M) depending on their structure and function. Class E immunoglobulins (IgE) are important in the context of allergic immune reactions. These too can differ in appearance. Ultimately, each antibody is specifically adapted to one particular allergen. As soon as the body comes into contact with this allergen again, the corresponding antibody molecules become attached to the allergen. The antibodies stimulate most cells to release messenger substances which ultimately trigger the immune reaction. Histamine is one such messenger substance. Among other things, it causes dilatation of the blood vessels (redness), prevents fluid from entering the tissues from small blood vessels (swelling) or stimulates glands to release moisture (nasal mucosa).

Prick test
The standard international method for detecting allergies. It involves pricking the surface of the skin using the tip of a lancet without drawing blood. A drop of allergen-containing solution is applied to the skin, which is then monitored for any allergic reactions.

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