Living with weird allergies
Allergies are on the rise, with predictions that half of us will be allergic to something by 2026. While pollen affects millions, James Moore discovers the more unusual allergens out there.
■■Sunlight: Looking forward to summer? Some people are actually allergic to sunlight. It’s thought their immune system overreacts to UV light, leading to skin rashes.
Solar urticaria tends to come on quickly, signified by outbreaks of hives on the skin when it’s exposed to the sun’s rays. More common is polymorphic light eruption, which causes itching and blisters.
It’s more common in women and can come on hours after exposure. There’s no cure but sunscreen and antihistamines may help.
■■Water: If you think that’s bad, imagine being allergic to water, where the skin reacts to coming into contact with H2O, producing a rash and itching often on the upper arms and torso.
Symptoms can last for hours and the cause is unknown.
There’s no specific treatment but antihistamines can ease symptoms. Thankfully, aquagenic urticaria is very rare, affecting just one in
230 million people.
A similar condition, cold-induced urticaria, can be caused by contact with cold water, including rain.
■■Clapping: Even something as simple as a bumpy bus journey or clapping can trigger the condition vibratory urticaria.
Experts reckon people with a certain genetic mutation have an exaggerated version of a normal cellular response to vibration.
Like many other allergies this can lead to a rash as well as symptoms like flushing, headaches, fatigue and blurry vision. They can sometimes last for several days.
■■Sweat: Taking exercise could set off symptoms if you suffer from cholinergic urticaria, a reaction to your own bodily fluids. This condition can cause extreme itching and hives. It’s surprisingly common with one in 2,000 people affected. They’re likely to suffer from things such as eczema or asthma too.
Symptoms usually go within half an hour but TV presenter Lauren Layfield, a sufferer, says her legs feel like they’re “on fire.”
It can be controlled using regular antihistamine medication.
■■Red meat: Ticks can carry lots of diseases, including Lyme disease. But bites from the lone star tick, found in the US, can trigger an unusual allergy. It sometimes causes people to develop alpha-gal syndrome, where their body can’t process a carbohydrate found in red meat properly. This means that if they eat something like a steak it can lead them to develop hives, itching, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in extreme cases, life-threatening anaphylaxis.
■■Coins: Some people are allergic to nickel, found in older jewellery and coins. It can even be found in zips.
Exposure can trigger a skin reaction called contact dermatitis. It is more common in people prone to hand dermatitis. Allergy UK says: “If you regularly handle money, this may contribute as coins release nickel and exposure to nickel builds up with repeated contact.”
■■Sex: Not the act of lovemaking itself, but a partner’s semen. Some women can react to proteins produced by a man’s prostate gland.
This can lead to painful inflammation, itching and tummy swelling and, rarely, anaphylactic shock or asthma attacks.
Research shows up to 12 per cent of women may have seminal plasma hypersensitivity. Couples should use condoms to help alleviate it.
Some people need to watch out for latex too, which can cause itching and asthma-related symptoms. People affected have to avoid this type of rubber.
The good news is there are brands of condom that don’t contain any.
■■ Alcohol: In very rare cases people can be allergic to alcohol and just a small amount may lead to severe rashes and difficulty breathing, which can turn into a medical emergency. People with asthma or hay fever may also find they become intolerant to alcohol.
Substances found in booze, such as chemical congeners or sulphites, can also trigger reactions like rashes, with red wine the most common villain. Avoiding alcoholic beverages is often the only way to prevent it.