What happens in my body when I have an allergic reaction?

What happens in my body when I have an allergic reaction?

Harold Kaiser (Practicing Allergist and Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School) gives expert video advice on: What causes allergies?; What happens in my body when I have an allergic reaction?; Are allergies becoming more common? and more...

When you have an allergic reaction, the body has a certain immune response. In other words, as a result of your exposure to whatever it is you're allergic to, there starts a cascade of immunological and biochemical events, which results in the secretion by the blood cells, the T-cells and the B-cells of chemicals with funny names like chemokines, and leukotrienes, and cytokines, and histamine. These manifest, which causes the allergic reaction - the swelling, the itching, the redness, the coughing or the wheezing.