more than you ever wanted to know about allergies and lactose

I was about to post this on Ravelry (the topic came up in a discussion in the Ravenclaw house thread), but that was before I rambled on (and on, and on, and on). Here goes Buttercup, gettin' all scientific on you (if you don't want to learn, I would advise skipping this):

Lactose intolerance and allergies are two different things. Lactose intolerance is the inability to break down the sugar in milk, lactose. This causes lots of bowel-ey issues that no one thinks are comfortable. Thankfully for these folks, they can take a pill (lactaid) which helps them break down the lactose, and they are home free. Keep in mind this all only has to do with digestion so far, we have not yet gotten to the immune system (which is where allergies come in).

The immune system has many different components. There are several main ones you ought to understand - first, an "antigen" is anything foreign (or sometimes not even foreign) that an "antibody" can recognize. Antibodies are the messengers patrolling your body for invaders, sending out for recruits, signalling danger, etc. For every molecule in the world we have the genes to create an antibody that matches it perfectly - almost like a lock and key, or malabrigo and a delicious scarf.

There are several types of antibodies, and several types of immune reactions that we call allergies (there are many other reactions too, but we don't have time to go into those). The first allergy that everyone knows it the nasty one - you just got stung by a bee, your throat is swelling, and you are about to go into anaphylactic shock. This is an "immediate hypersensitivity reaction," and IgE is the culprit here (Ig is for immunoglobulin and the E distinguishes it from the other types of antibodies). This happens IMMEDIATELY and is generally very dangerous and severe (and will become worse the more times the person comes in contact with this particular antigen).

The reaction people are not as familiar with is the delayed immune reaction, mediated by IgG. It can take place anywhere from several hours to even several days after ingestion, and the reactions vary (I have chronic migraines, but pretty much anything can happen with this).

So, my allergies are the second type, the delayed ones, so I just have a strict diet. If someone has an immediate hypersensitivity reaction they ought to discuss options with their doctor for situations of exposure, and prevent any chance of exposure they can.

Good heavens! I'd better move this post to my blog, it's ridiculously long.

P.S. Did I mention it is my ambition to be a Healer?