Anaphylaxis

Overview

Anaphylaxis is a potentially life threatening condition for certain people who come in contact with or eat foods such as peanuts tree nuts seafood eggs soy wheat sesame seeds or milk products. In addition to these edible allergens certain medications latex exercise or insect stings can also cause a person to experience a potentially lethal allergic reaction. According to Anaphylaxis Canada approximately 600000 Canadians suffer from this condition.

Causes

When someone experiences anaphylactic shock various body systems such as their skin gastro-intestinal cardiovascular and respiratory tract can be affected. Essentially their immune system overreacts to the allergen that has entered the body.

Symptoms

If someone you know suffers from anaphylaxis you'll usually be able to tell by the way they react to the allergen they've ingested. The severity of their reaction is usually determined by the amount of allergen that has entered their body.

According to Anaphylaxis Canada some signs and symptoms of allergic reactions may include:

Mild Symptoms

  • flushed face and body
  • itchy eyes nose and/or face
  • tingling numbness pain in the tongue and lips

Moderate to Severe Symptoms

  • difficulty swallowing
  • swollen eyes face lips tongue and throat
  • hives (which are like raised welts appearing on the body)
  • abdominal cramping vomiting diarrhea
  • coughing wheezing difficulty talking or breathing
  • dizziness weakness
  • drop in blood pressure unconsciousness death

Treatment

Call 911. Immediate medial treatment is required. This typically involves injecting a shot of epinephrine (adrenaline) to counter the effects of the histamine in the body and stop the allergic reaction.

Everybody's adrenal glands produce this hormone naturally. It's released whenever you get really stressed out' or frightened. When you feel your heart pounding or your hands shaking the hormone is being released to help you fight or flight' from the situation you're in.

People with anaphylaxis need an extra faster boost of this hormone during an allergic reaction in order to quickly increase their heart rate divert blood to the muscles constricts blood vessels and open the airways.

After the initial episode has passed some people may also need to use an inhaler to improve breathing and/or antihistamines to prevent a recurrence of symptoms.

Prevention

People with anaphylaxis should avoid allergens that may have caused an adverse reaction in the past. They should always carry an Epi-pen filled with epinephrine in the event of an emergency and wear a Medic-Alert bracelet. If they know they are going to be far from an emergency room it is wise for people with anaphylaxis to carry more than one Epi-pen.