Do We Inherit Allergies? With the arrival of Spring, many allergies have also made their way to America. Along with fruits and flowers, this season brings miseries for the people suffering from allergies. Runny noses, sore throats, and swollen faces are a common sight.

But, you can’t only blame the season for your blocked airways or nasal congestion. Yes, environmental factors matter but some allergies may be genetic and passed down to generations.

How Allergies Happen

Your body has an inbuilt defense system that keeps you protected from any foreign invaders. It has a force of antibodies which fights with the harmful substances. However, sometime, your body may mistakenly react against a substance causing no harm.

Your immune system then produces Immunoglobin E (Ig E) bodies to battle out the allergen. These bodies travel in the cells, releasing Histamine and other chemicals causing mild to severe allergenic reactions –depending on the type of allergen your body encounters.

If your allergy is mild, it will cause you itching, rash on the skin, or congestion. However, in severe allergenic case, you may experience varying degrees of mouth and throat swelling. You may suffer severe abdominal pain with vomiting and nausea. In rare cases, a patient may lose his life.

Air transports some of the allergens, such as –pollen, dust mite, mold, and animal dander. You may suffer an allergy to a particular food, medication, or pet.

Are All Allergies Inherited?

Allergies develop due to several reasons. Why you don’t show an allergenic reaction to a substance your sibling may exhibit is unknown. Allergies can hit people of all age group at any time. You are most likely to become allergic to things, especially food during childhood. However, some allergies sit down with time.

Some allergies tend to travel through genes; you may potentially inherit an allergy from your parents or grandparents –such as allergic asthma. Relax and take a deep breath. If you or your partner has an allergic condition, it does not mean that it will affect all your children. Likewise, your kid may develop an allergy even if none of your family members is affected.

Allergic asthma

If your airways are inflamed and you are having difficulty with breathing, you are under an asthma attack. This breathing disorder occurs when you inhale an allergen, thereby exhibiting allergenic symptoms –narrowed airways, breathing difficulties, chest tightness with wheezing, and coughing.

Genes, along with other environmental factors, play a major role in administering allergic asthma. Different research suggests that as many as 100 of your genes may have a connection to allergic asthma. While most of the associated genes involve your body’s immune response, some play a part in lungs and airway functions. There is no specific inheritance pattern for allergic asthma.

Interestingly, not everyone with a variation of one of an allergic asthma-associated gene tends to develop the condition. You may develop allergic asthma because of prolonged exposure to allergen irritants present in the environment.

Food allergies

Though most of the food allergies are specific to an individual’s body composition, you may share a certain food or drug allergy with your family. Food allergies affect as many as two million (8%) of the children in the US.

If both of your parents are allergic to a certain food –let’s say peanut –then you are also likely to develop an allergy to it. However, it is not the case always. It is quite possible that you don’t develop an allergy to peanuts at all.

Conclusion

If you suffer from any seasonal allergy or have inherited one because of your genes, do not fear. Your allergies may not be completely wiped out, but you can manage them with your doctor’s help. Contact us and schedule an appointment with the best allergist in NYC Boyan Hadjiev MD.