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hey i was reading your answer to someone else's question and was wondering if you knew more about an allergy vs. an intolerance to something? aren't there degrees of severity when it comes to allergies or all allergies life-threatening (peanut allergy, for example) and intolerances irritating?
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When you are talking about the medical definition of allergy, an allergy is when your body has an immune response to something that is actually harmless. An allergy is something that your body reacts to by acting like it’s something really bad, like a virus or a poison, and kicks your immune system into high gear. Having your immune system responds that seriously and violently, it’s very dangerous.
An intolerance is everything else your body has trouble handing for whatever reason… some of those reasons can be treated or have to do with poor health or bad diet, others are just the way your body is. For instances, most people who are lactose intolerant lack the correct enzyme to break down the lactose in milk. Their body doesn’t treat milk like an enemy; it just can’t process it correctly.
Most people who say they have allergies, or ‘mild allergies’, actually have intolerances. Of course, you can have both. I have a citrus intolerance, so the smell of lemons really irritates me and makes me sneeze. I’m allergic to pork, so it could kill me.”
Almost always, allergies are much more server reactions then intolerances.
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