Hay fever sufferers have been warned to brace themselves for a severe allergy season as the weather warms up.
But it isn’t just pollen and dust that can whip up an allergic reaction: food, medication, chemicals and even insect bites can be enough to send our immune systems into an intense response.
Why some people’s bodies decide to overreact to the presence of otherwise harmless materials in our bodies is not fully known, but we do know the process by which allergies occur.
In this episode of Huh? Science Explained, Matthew Agius looks at the allergic response, and why the blossom of trees can be enough to make us cry.
Huh? Science Explained is a LiSTNR production.
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Originally published by Cosmos as Bad hayfever right now? The science of allergies
Matthew Agius
Matthew Agius is a science writer for Cosmos Magazine.
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