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What's IgE? Everyone has antibodies in their blood. The job of an antibody is to attack harmful substances - intruders like viruses. They help us get better when we're sick and they help us stay healthy. In people with allergies, antibodies go haywire and attack normally harmless substances. If you have allergies, when you are exposed to an allergen your own personal early warning system places your body's defenses on red alert. Deciding it's time to bring out the big guns, your body summons IgE and it’s sent throughout your bloodstream. It's the reaction to this allergen/antibody “war” that causes the majority of allergic reactions. Since allergies can mimic chronic cold and flu symptoms, people often mistake one condition for the other. And it's thought that children can "grow out" of allergies. (See Allergies and Children for more information.) One simple blood test can measure the amount of IgE produced in response to specific allergens, which will tell your doctor whether you're really allergic - and just what you're allergic to. |
