To test for hypersensitivity your doctor will perform a skin prick tests that involves placing drops of allergens on your skin and then pricking the skin to introduce the allergens.
The skin will react with swelling, itching, redness or a raised bump if you're allergic to the substance.
Other tests that are done for hypersensitivity are blood tests, double blind placebo controlled food challenge, spirometery or pulmonary function tests, inhalation challenges and an eosinophil count test.
The drugs that cause hypersensitivity are anticonvulsants, Allopurinol, Sulfonamide antibiotics, NSAIDS, chemotherapy drugs, HIV drugs such as Viramune and Ziagen as well as muscle relaxers.
Some other drugs that can cause hypersensitivity include Amoxicillin (Moxatag), Ampicillin, Penicillin (Bicillin L-A), Tetracycline, and Olanzapine.
Hypersensitivity is not the same as inflammation although hypersensitivity reactions can cause inflammation.
Inflammation is the normal response by your body to sense something which should not be there.
Inflammation is triggered by your immune system to attack invaders such as microorganisms, cancer cells and foreign substances.
Hypersensitivity is an abnormal immune system response which occurs when your immune system overreacts to an antigen which can cause inflammation and damage to your body's own cells.
Hypersensitivity is sometimes an autoimmune reaction although it's not always autoimmune.
Hypersensitivity is an overreaction to a substance like a drug or foreign antigen which can cause inflammation and damage to the body and can be immediate, delayed or autoimmune.
Autoimmunity is a type of hypersensitivity to self antigens which affect around 5 percent of the population.
Most types of autoimmunity involve the humoral immune response and antibodies which inappropriately mark self components as foreign are termed autoantibodies.
Autoimmunity is an immune system reaction against your body's own cells or receptors and occurs when your immune system's tolerance mechanisms fail.
Hypersensitivity in medical terms means you have an immune system overreaction to a substance which can be a drug or allergen that normally wouldn't cause a response.
Hypersensitivity can lead to allergy symptoms and even tissue damage.
The types of hypersensitivity reactions include.
Type I hypersensitivity which is an immediate reaction that is mediated by IgE antibodies and is the most common type of hypersensitivity and can cause food allergies, anaphlaxis and asthma.
Type II hypersensitivity is an antibody mediated cytotoxic reaction which can cause tissue damage through inflammation, disrupted cellular function or direct cellular destruction.
Type III hypersensitivity which is an immune complex mediated reaction which can cause systemic lupus erythematosus, serum sickness and post streptococcal glomerulonephritis.
The symptoms of hypersensitivity reactions often appear in people that have been exposed to the antigen before.
The reactions with hypersensitivity can be severe and even sometimes life threatening.
If you experience any skin rash or other symptoms after you take a new medication you should talk with your doctor or a health professional.
Examples of hypersensitivity include anaphylaxis and allergic rhinoconjunctivitis.
Type II hypersensitivity reactions (ie, cytotoxic hypersensitivity reactions) involve immunoglobulin G or immunoglobulin M antibodies bound to cell surface antigens, with subsequent complement fixation.
An example is drug-induced hemolytic anemia.
Allergens that can result in a type I hypersensitivity may be harmless (i.e., pollen, mites, or foods, drugs, etc.) or more hazardous such as insect venoms.
The reaction may also be manifested in different areas of the body and may result in instances such as Nasal allergic rhinitis or hay fever.