How do histamines work

Post your questions about histamine here.

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benjamin1990
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by benjamin1990 on Wed Apr 25, 2018 5:07 pm

How do histamines work

How do histamines work? Sometimes my children's hayfever is worse after it has rained why is this?

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Dr Janice Joneja
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by Dr Janice Joneja on Sun Apr 29, 2018 5:55 pm

Re: How do histamines work

There is a lot of misunderstanding about the remarkable and indispensable histamine. People often see it as an enemy, causing hay fever, food reactions, and all sorts of miserable problems. But in reality, we could not live without it! Histamine (chemical name: 2-4-imidazolyl ethylamine) is involved in several essential body processes including:
• Acting as a neurotransmitter in the brain and central nervous system, where it conveys signals between nerve cells.
• Triggering the release of gastric acid in the stomach, which is an important stage in the digestion of protein.
• Protection against threats to the body such as infection and trauma, where it is an essential component of inflammation, the process involved in immunological defence. In this category we can include allergy. Allergy can be considered as a misguided attempt by the immune system to protect the body from a “foreign invader” – in this case material that is in itself harmless, but which, being foreign to the body, is perceived as an external threat that needs to be destroyed. Histamine is an important mediator in this defensive action.

Problems arise when there is just too much histamine in the body which overwhelms the enzyme systems designed to keep it at a tolerable level. Then we see the symptoms typical of histamine intolerance, or sensitivity, which closely resemble allergy.

The reason your children's hay fever is worse after rain is because the moisture in the air tends to concentrate air-borne allergens, and move them lower down. Consequently, the amount of their allergens, such as pollens, that your children are inhaling is quite a lot more than if the particles were dispersed more widely in a dry state. The amount of allergen usually determines the level of the reaction; more allergens means a stronger immunological response, and therefore more sever symptoms.
Dr Janice Joneja
Medical microbiologist / immunologist

http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/on ... tamine.php

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