Question

A student on a school trip started sneezing and wheezing soon after reaching the hill station for no explained reasons. But, on return to the plains, the symptoms disappeared. What is such a response called? How does the body produce it?

Answer 1

Hint: It is caused by hypersensitivity to certain substances such as dust, pollen, etc. When someone becomes hypersensitive, there is something termed sensitivity, she / he or body systems respond adversely, resulting in various difficulties.

Complete Answer:
- First we should know how the immune system responds towards foreign invaders to answer this question. An immune response is a reaction that takes place in an organism in order to protect against foreign invaders.
- These invaders involve a wide number of different microorganisms, including viruses, parasites, bacteria, and fungi, which, if not eliminated from the body, could cause significant health complications for the host organism.
- For no explained cause, the reactions such as sneezing and wheezing are called allergies. Allergies are caused by the activation of mast cells which releases substances such as histamine and serotonin.
- Allergens are the compounds to which the immune system experiences such an exaggerated reaction. As a response, the body develops the IgE form of antibody against allergens. Pollen grains, dust etc. are the most common examples of such allergens.

Note: The immune system responds to non-self-molecules or antigens in two essential respects, and these are innate immune response and adaptive immune response. In our body system, both the immune responses work together to build an efficient and specific immune response to pathogen invasion or exposure.