Allergies in Childhood

Razvitkom tehnologije i civilizacijskim napretkom dogodile su se mnoge promjene u svijetu, a tako i u radnim, prehrambenim, higijenskim i mnogim drugim navikama ljudi. Ljudski organizam razvio je sustav koji ga štiti od raznih potencijalno štetnih tvari, a cijeli taj sustav nazivamo imunološki sustav čovjeka. Kada je takav sustav hipersenzibilan, prekomjerno reagira na bezopasne tvari. Takva reakcija, koja sama uzrokuje bolest, umjesto da organizam štiti od nje, naziva se alergija. Pojam alergije prvi put je upotrjebljen 1906. godine nakon što je uviđena pojačana reakcija organizma na injekciju konjskog seruma. Uzroci alergija su alergeni, odnosno tvari s kojima je moguće biti u svakodnevnom kontaktu. Alergija je zatim, tegoba dok se ne ustanovi koji alergen ju uzrokuje. Postoji mogućnost kako izbjeći ako poznajemo alergene i njihovu povezanost, a ako se alergen ne može izbjeći, bolesnik koristi specifičnu imunoterapiju. Na alergen tijelo može reagirati odmah nakon kontakta s alergenom ili nakon par dana. Najčešći alergeni su pelud, plijesan i hrana. Simptomi ovise o tome kako alergeni dolaze u kontakt s tijelom ili ulaze u njega, stoga razlikujemo udahnute, kontaktne, probavne i ubrizgane alergene. Najčešći znakovi alergije su svrbež, crvenilo očiju i kože, suzenje i kihanje. Među najpoznatije alergijske bolesti ubrajamo alergijski rinitis, alergije očiju, alergijsku astmu te različite alergijske bolesti kože poput urtikarije i angioedema. Prema današnjim znanstvenim spoznajama alergije nisu izlječive, no uz pomoć ispravne edukacije, pravodobne prevencije te liječenja lijekovima, tegobe bolesnika mogu se znatno smanjiti i olakšati mu svakodnevicu, no alergiju je nemoguće eliminirati. U današnjem svijetu sve više djece boluje od alergija stoga je važno da odgojitelji budu educirani o tome kako bi oboljelom djetetu mogli pravovaljano pomoći i reagirati u situacijama potencijalno opasnim za zdravlje i život djeteta.The civic and technological advancements brought about changes in many diverse fields, including the labour, dietary and hygienic habits of the common man. The human organism developed a system that protects it from a vast array of potential threats, the immune system. When hypersensitized, it reacts too harshly to, otherwise harmless stimuli, in turn causing an ailment, something it was supposed to protect the body from. Such a reaction of the immune system is more commonly known as an allergy, which was, as a term, first used in 1906. after such a reaction was noted in a subject injected with horse serum. The cause of these reactions, allergens we encounter in our everyday life. The allergy is, hence, a threat until its allergen is found, for, knowing what causes the allergy, gives the afflicted a chance to avoid it all together. If the allergen can not be avoided, the patient is left with the option of specialized immunotherapy. The allergen can provoke a reaction immediately after the contact with the body or after a period of a few days. The most common allergens are pollen, mould and food. The symptoms depend on the type of allergen based upon the way they make contact with the body, for an example we differentiate the ones inhaled from the ones touched, those ingested from the ones injected. The most common signs of the allergic reaction are rash, redness of the eyes and the skin, watery eyes and sneezing. Some among the most common allergies are the allergic rhinitis, allergies of the eyes, allergic asthma and a plethora of skin allergies, the most common of which being nettle rash and angioedema. According to our current medical advances allergies are not curable, but with the help of good education, timely prevention and the use of medicines, it can be treated to ease the patient’s day to day life by alleviating the symptoms. In today’s world an increasing number of children is beginning to suffer from allergies, therefore it is imperative that the educators be educated on the treatment and prevention of the aforementioned, to be able to give the adequate care to the child and to react accordingly in cases of emergency, potentially saving a child’s life