Allergy

Allergies are over-reactions of the immune system in certain individuals to seemingly and generally harmless foreign proteins and substances.

Allergies usually do not occur at the first exposure. When a person is exposed to an allergen for the first time, the body develops molecules called antibodies against the invading proteins. This is called an immune response.

When exposed to the allergen again the immune system produces large amounts of antibodies that lead to break down of mast cells that contain chemicals like histamine. This leads to the features of allergies.

This process is known as sensitization. Sensitization may take days to years. Sometimes sensitization develops as the person affected shows symptoms but never fully develops the allergy to the allergen.

Symptoms of allergy include: sneezing, shortness of breath, wheezing, runny nose and eyes, pain over the sinuses (at the bridge of the nose, near the eyes, over cheeks and at the forehead), coughing, skin rashes (hives), swelling of the lips or face, itching eyes, ears, lips, throat and roof of the mouth, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhea.

Common allergens include pollen, animal dander, fungal spores or molds, dust mites etc. There is severe wheezing, shortness of breath, cough and thick mucus secretions.

When allergic reaction is life-threatening or severe it is termed anaphylaxis or anaphylactic shock. Anaphylaxis involves the whole body.

Anaphylaxis involves: swelling of the throat and mouth and clogging up of airways leading to difficulty breathing, difficulty in speaking or swallowing, rash and itching elsewhere in the body, weakness and collapse often with unconsciousness due to sudden fall in blood pressure. Anaphylaxis requires urgent emergency management.

Exercise 5. Answer the questions:

1. What is allergy?

2. When do allergies occur?

3. What is sensitization?

4. What may a person be allergic to?

5. What are the common symptoms of allergy?

6. How is severe allergic reaction called?

7. What does such a reaction involve?

8. Why does anaphylaxis require urgent emergency management?

Exercise 6. Give English equivalents to the word combinations:

загрозливі для життя алергічні реакції, висипання і свербіж, різке зниження кров’яного тиску, нудота і блювання, кропивниця, чхання й нежить, імунна реакція, бути під впливом алергену, важкість під час говоріння й ковтання, задишка й хрипіння, густий слизовий секрет, квітковий пилок, хімічні речовини, пліснява і кліщі.

Exercise 7. Put the questions to the underlined words:

1. Mosquito bite allergy symptoms include itching, hives, and swelling.

2. While environment plays a role in allergy development, there is a greater risk of developing allergic conditions if a person has a family history of allergy.

3. Testing of the skin or blood may be useful in certain cases.

4. In the developed world about 20% of people are affected by allergic rhinitis.

5. Allergic reactions can result from foods, insect stings, and reactions to medications.

6. Rates of many allergic diseases appear to be increasing.

7. In severe reactions epinephrine is recommended.

8. Inhaled allergens can also lead to increased production of mucus in the lungs, shortness of breath, coughing, and wheezing.

Exercise 8. Open the brackets, using the verbs in the correct tense and voice forms:

1. Food allergies or food intolerances (to affect) nearly everyone at some point.

2. People often have an unpleasant reaction to something they (to eat) and wonder if they (to have) a food allergy.

3. If you (to suffer) from a milk allergy, strictly avoiding milk and food containing milk and milk products (to be) the only way to prevent a reaction, which (to include) immediate wheezing, vomiting, and hives.

4. Egg allergies are more common in children than in adults and reaction (to range) from mild to severe.

5. If a person (to be) allergic to any wheat protein, he should strictly (to avoid) wheat and wheat products, which (to include) stomach upset, eczema, allergic rhinitis, bronchospasm and even anaphylaxis.

6. Peanut allergies (to affect) about 4 percent of adults and 6 percent of children.

7. A single ragweed plant (to create) up to a billion pollen particles in a year, affecting people with ragweed allergies, namely stuffy sinuses.

8. While all allergy symptoms (to cause) by a hypersensitive response to an otherwise harmless substance, not all allergies (to be) the same.

Exercise 10. Read the text and be ready to discuss it.

Blood allergy tests

For assessing the presence of allergen-specific IgE antibodies, allergy skin testing is preferred over blood allergy tests because it is more sensitive and specific, simpler to use, and less expensive. Skin testingis also known as "puncture testing" and "prick testing" due to the series of tiny puncture or pricks made into the patient's skin. Small amounts of suspected allergens and/or their extracts (pollen, grass, mite proteins, peanut extract, etc.) are introduced to sites on the skin marked with pen or dye (the ink/dye should be carefully selected, lest it cause an allergic response itself). A small plastic or metal device is used to puncture or prick the skin. Sometimes, the allergens are injected "intradermally" into the patient's skin, with a needle and syringe. Common areas for testing include the inside forearm and the back. If the patient is allergic to the substance, then a visible inflammatory reaction will usually occur within 30 minutes. This response will range from slight reddening of the skin to a full-blownhive(called "wheal and flare") in more sensitive patients similar to amosquito bite. Interpretation of the results of the skin prick test is normally done by allergists on a scale of severity, with +/- meaning borderline reactivity, and 4+ being a large reaction. Increasingly, allergists are measuring and recording the diameter of the wheal and flare reaction. Interpretation by well-trained allergists is often guided by relevant literature. Some patients may believe they have determined their own allergic sensitivity from observation, but a skin test has been shown to be much better than patient observation to detect allergy.

If a serious life threatening anaphylactic reaction has brought a patient in for evaluation, some allergists will prefer an initial blood test prior to performing the skin prick test. Skin tests may not be an option if the patient has widespread skin disease or has taken antihistaminessometime the last several days.

Points for discussion

How is skin testing carried out?

What is response to skin testing like?

What test is used in anaphylactic reaction?

Test

1. Allergy is an increased sensitivity to …

1. dust b) allergens c) insect bites d) skin irritation e) mosquito

2. When immune system is exposed to allergens, it produces…

1. antibodies b) allergic reaction c) itching d) sneezing e) coughing

3. The substances responsible for allergy must be …

1. excluded b) identified c) exposed d) obtained e) consumed

4. … is an acute allergic reaction.

1. collapse b) stroke c) anaphylaxis d) sneezing e) itching

5. swelling of the throat and mouth and clogging up of airways lead to difficulty breathing, difficulty in speaking or swallowing

1. Coughing b) difficult breathing c) expelling foreign matters d) rash e) spots

6. Some allergists will prefer an initial blood test prior to performing the … test.

1. urine b) skin prick c) sputum d) probe e) saliva

7. Allergic parents are…. to have allergic children.

1. less likely b) can have c) more likely d) usually e) surely

8. Allergic diseases …. by inappropriate immunological responses to harmless antigens.

1. lead to b) trigger c) are caused d) are reached e) are provoke

9. The use of antibacterial cleaning products has also been associated with higher … of asthma.

1. occurrence b) case c) incidence d) appearance e) existence

10. Effective management of allergic diseases relies … the ability to make an accurate diagnosis.

1. of b) for c) in d) on e) –

AQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROM (AIDS)

Exercise 1. Active vocabulary:

contaminate, v	[kən'tæmineit]	забруднювати, заражати
deficiency, n	[dıˈfıʃənsı]	недостатність
failure, n	['feiljə]	Неспроможність, розлад
life-threatening, adj	[laɪf ˈθretənɪŋ]	загрозливий для життя
latency, adj	['leit(ə)nsi]	прихований стан, латентність
malignant, adj	[mə'lignənt]	злоякісний
rash, n	[ræʃ	висип, висипання
strain, n	[strein]	штам
susceptible, adj	[səˈsɛptəbǝl]	вразливий
thrive (throve; thriven), v	[θrʌiv/ θrəʊv/ θrɪv(ə)n]	процвітати
transfusion, n	[træns'fju:ɜ:(ə)n]	переливання
transmission, n	[trænz'miə(ə)n]	розповсюдження
trigger, v	['trigə]	пустити в хід
tumour, n	['tju:mə]	пухлина, новоутворення

Exercise 2. Read the following paying attention to the rules of reading:

-ea- [i:]: sick-leave, treatment, weak, speak, heat;

-ea- [e]: head, bread, dead, death, health;

-cian [ʃ(ə)n]: physician, obstetrician, pediatrician, phthisiatrician, musician;

-tion [ʃ(ə)n]: examination, administration, medication, combination, injection;

-sis (sing.) [sis] ––˃ -ses (pl.) [siz]: analysis – analyses, diagnosis – diagnoses, crisis – crises, synthesis – syntheses, thesis – theses.

Exercise 3. Complete the table with missing forms:

Verb	Noun	Adjective
to infect
	destruction
		transmissible
	inflammation
		administrative
to develop
		inclusive
	cause
to involve

Exercise 4. Read the word-combinations and translate them into your native language:

A progressive failure of the immune system, life-threatening opportunistic infections, to thrive cancers, malignant tumours, a specific type of cells called a T helper, to trigger the immune system to infections, to share needles for IV drugs, to be susceptible to other diseases, transfusions of contaminated blood, swollen lymph nodes, a latency stage.

Exercise 5. Read and translate the text: