Allergy affects the whole family
Allergy is classified in medical terminology as an inflammatory disease. These diseases include, among others, asthma, upper respiratory tract disease, food, hygiene or drug allergy. The increasing prevalence of allergy is particularly affecting children, who are most likely to experience allergy symptoms. Allergy affects people of all ages - from infancy to later adulthood. In various definitions, we can define it as an inflammatory reaction of the body to contact with various environmental factors - allergens.
Inflammation causes recurring symptoms in people with a certain susceptibility. Allergy can be of varying severity. It can be mild, in more severe cases, seizures and allergic reactions are frequent or very frequent, last longer, and may only go away with medication. When a loved one is affected by allergy symptoms or a diagnosis of ongoing and recurring difficulties is made, questions arise about the causes and effects of inflammatory disease. Below, we will consider together the question of whether the allergy is hereditary and or in some way you can catch an allergy.
Emotional consequences of allergies
Allergy as a chronic disease, due to its duration, the evolution of symptoms and the picture, can have an impact on the emotions and intellectual sphere of a child. A child suffering from chronic allergies may experience anxiety, rejection, loneliness or low self-esteem. Experiencing emotional problems may be of a character leading to a worsening of symptoms.
The authors of scientific papers on allergies attach importance to psychological factors - including those related to stress - in the genesis and course of these groups of diseases. It should be added that the impact of experiencing strong negative emotions, which leads to certain disease symptoms, may be modified not only by the child's personal characteristics, but also by the family situation, the way the disease is understood by family members and the immediate environment, e.g. educators, caregivers.
Is it possible to get infected with an allergy? - concerns of peers of allergy sufferer
The quality of life of people with inflammatory disease is determined by a number of factors through which the disease affects various areas of a child's life. One should not forget about the influence of allergies on, for example, the quality of a child's sleep - a sleep deficit caused by difficulties in controlling allergy symptoms can have a significant impact on the general well-being. Also, high absenteeism from pre-school or school activities caused by hospitalizations or visits to specialists may be important for the achievements in education, but most of all - for building social contacts of the child, which may be temporarily deprived of due to illness.
Expert advises
It is isolation during episodes of the disease that causes myths and questions of children attending class with allergies about whether it is possible to become infected with an allergy, since the sick colleague remains isolated. It would be valuable that a sick child would not be deprived of contact with his peer group during an episode of the disease. In order for the educator to be able to competently take care of a child experiencing allergies in various situations, he should also have knowledge about the essence of the disease and the factors that may cause its exacerbation.
Inheritance or vulnerability?
Apart from questions about it, is it possible to catch an allergy, the second question that family members of people suffering from inflammatory diseases wonder about is whether whether the allergy is hereditary.
- The literature draws attention to the fact that if one of the parents of an allergic child also suffered from inflammatory diseases, then the offspring have a 29% probability of allergy.
- This percentage rises to 50-72% if both parents are allergic. There is a significant difference in the percentage of allergies in children with inflammatory diseases, whose parents have never had symptoms of inflammatory disease (13%).
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Head of the Department of Assessment and Development of Cooperation at the Institute of Mother and Child
Risk factors
However, what conditions the onset of disease symptoms are risk factors, so-called exo- and endogenous, which do not give a clear answer to the question whether the allergy is hereditary.
Exogenous factors
Exogenous factors include upper respiratory tract infections, air pollutants, maternal nicotinism, or experience of exposure to inhaled allergens. It is these environmental factors, such as changes in the natural environment, the antibiotic treatment you are taking to lower your immunity, and the changing diet, all of which may, more than inheritance, cause sensitization.
Endogenous factors
The endogenous elements are the aforementioned genetic factors, male gender (boys are more often ill), prenatal and perinatal factors.
Psychological factors
Regardless of the pending answer to the question about whether there is an allergy hereditary, the role of the existence and influence of psychological factors in both the development and persistence of allergy symptoms cannot be underestimated.
In the psychological literature on the functioning of families with bronchial asthma, the issue of caregiver functions is discussed, both in the treatment process and in the development of disorders related to the inflammatory disease accompanying the child. Among the problems characterized, one can distinguish factors of disturbed relationships in the family of a chronically ill child - parental overprotection, as well as focus on a sick child, which may cause problems in communication with healthy siblings.
Anxiety can also be treated!
Expert advises
A child suffering from allergies should be covered by interdisciplinary specialist care, both medical and psychological. There is a need for cooperation between the doctor monitoring somatic symptoms and the parent revealing their emotions related to experiencing the child's chronic disease, such as questions about whether the allergy is hereditary or whether the allergy will accompany the child throughout his life. Also, the contact of the child himself with a therapist, educator or psychologist may have an impact on reducing anxiety related to the effects of chronic illness.
Understanding what the family knows or does not know about the disease, what the family needs in the process of treating and living with allergies becomes an integral part of the process of recovery and acceptance of living with an inflammatory disease. Only cooperation and care in the medical, psychological and environmental spheres (kindergarten, school) will allow to reduce the anxiety of parents and enable the child to develop independence and trust in their own abilities and values.
Źródła:
Ewa Dadas-Stasiak, Bolesław Kalicki, Anna Jung, "The most common causes and types of allergies in children in the light of the current epidemiology", 2010, Pediatria i Medycyna Rodzinna,
Katarzyna Schier and Marina Zalewska, "Oedipus' relatives and friends", 2006, PZWL,
Katarzyna Schier, "Out of breath and speechless. Mental bond and regulation of emotions in people suffering from bronchial asthma ", 2005, GWP.
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