“It is estimated that half of the population will be allergic by 2050,” says ASBAI President.
If you don't have it, you probably know someone who does. A It is estimated that 61 million Brazilians suffer from allergies. Respiratory, skin, food, medication… there are many possibilities.
But why do some have it and others don't? Doctor Drauzio Varella spoke to experts and followed the everyday lives of people who have lives full of limitations and risks due to the disease. What happens in the body? How do allergies arise?
What treatment options are there? These topics are discussed in the series premiere “Allergy The body on alert”.
What happens in the body?
1 of 3 An allergy attacks the human body's defense system. — Photo: TV Globo/Reproductive allergy attacks the human body's defense system. — Photo: TV Globo/Reproduction
An allergy is the exaggerated and incorrect reaction of our immune system to a harmless substance.
“The immune system is in everything, it's in the skin, it's in the eyes, it's in the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract, it's in the digestive system. Once this radar detects something strange, it can amplify and connect this entire communication network from a localized location to a reaction that affects the entire body,” emphasizes Ariana Campos Yang, allergist at HCUSP.
The person will then do it Sneeze, cough, your eyes will water. Possibly too Swelling, vomiting, diarrhea, itching. In most cases, these reactions are mild the body resolves them on its own.
The intensity of these symptoms depends on the amount of histamine released. Histamine is a chemical mediator a messenger that controls allergic reactions.
“When an allergic reaction occurs, it is as if histamine is raining on the body, this substance is raining down. But sometimes there is rain, a little drizzle. And sometimes we have a storm, a storm that causes flooding and destruction,” adds the allergist.
Why do some people have allergies and others don't?
“It is a big mystery why a person becomes allergic. What we know is that allergies are the result of a conversation in which a genetic predisposition goes hand in hand with environmental factors such as pollution, food and medications.” […] Our immune system begins to form when we are in the womb, which has to do with the mother's diet and her lifestyle during the birth of the baby,”
According to the expert, another crucial moment is the birth of a child, when allergies arise due to environmental influences.
2 of 3 The time of birth is crucial for the development of allergies. — Photo: TV Globo/Reproduction The moment of birth is crucial for the development of allergies. — Photo: TV Globo/Reproduction
“The bacteria present in the vaginal canal adapt to a more regulating profile and avoid factors that promote allergies. If the baby is born via cesarean section, the bacteria on the baby's skin will not provide the same help. This does not mean that this “The child born by cesarean section will have an allergy or not, but it is a variable that has an influence.”
Another important point is that most allergies occur more frequently in childhood because the immune system is still developing.
How does Brazil treat people with allergies?
3 out of 3 Distribution of allergists in Brazil. — Photo: TV Globo/Reproduction Distribution of allergists in Brazil. — Photo: TV Globo/Reproduction
“The public network is not prepared for the topic of allergies. There are unknown diseases and it is necessary to train more allergists. The distribution of allergists in Brazil is very uneven, with about 70% concentrated in the southeastern region,” emphasizes Fábio Kuschnir, President of the Brazilian Association of Allergy and Immunology.
Felipe Proença, program director at the Secretariat for Primary Health Care, says primary health care is essential to combat the problem.
“Firstly, it is crucial to ensure the presence of primary care at all locations. At the beginning of 2023, 5,000 family health teams were without a doctor. “In addition, telecare is an important strategy to bring specialists to regions where physical presence is not viable,” he says.
The report followed the daytoday operations of Brazil's two largest allergy treatment centers in São Paulo. There are some treatments that improve patients' quality of life.
“The big advance in the field of allergies is understanding that these diseases have a very specific target that feeds and organizes all this inflammation. We have new therapies, socalled targeted therapies, which are injectable and act like guided missiles and have a direct effect on the specific point,” says the allergist at the HCUSP
Next Sunday comes a food allergy and the treatment that allows the patient to resume eating the foods that trigger the allergy.