Baby allergies start when the immune system overreacts to a substance it perceives as harmful.
Allergies in babies, just like in older children, begin within the immune system. It's not about the substance itself being inherently dangerous, but how the baby's body reacts to it.
According to information from October 30, 2024: Allergies in children happen when a child's immune system notices a strange or harmful substance, and then overreacts to that substance.
Here's a simple breakdown of this process:
- Encounter: A baby's immune system comes into contact with a substance (like a protein in food, pollen, or pet dander).
- Identification: For some babies, the immune system mistakenly identifies this normally harmless substance as a threat.
- Overreaction: Instead of ignoring it or handling it normally, the immune system mounts an exaggerated response. This involves creating specific antibodies (called IgE antibodies) the first time, which then prepare the body for a future encounter. Subsequent encounters trigger the release of chemicals like histamine, leading to allergic symptoms.
So, the "start" of the allergy process in a baby refers to this initial phase where the immune system begins to see a specific substance as a problem and prepares to defend against it. This overreaction is the fundamental mechanism behind how baby allergies start.
