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If you have any idea how your immune system works, you probably know that if yours is weak you could be more susceptible to infections. But did you know that your immune system can also be overactive and have a strong reaction to something that’s completely harmless? This happens when we have an allergic reaction.

Your immune system is a complex network of cells, proteins and organs that all work together to protect you against infection. Most of the time it’s a highly efficient system. Our immune system recognizes a pathogen, and that triggers a response from the rest of the immune system to hunt and destroy the pathogen.

When we have an allergy, your immune system mistakenly recognizes something non-infectious as a pathogen, like pollen for example. It overreacts, creating an immune response that was never necessary in the first place.

But a study that was conducted by the Institut Pasteur and published in Science found that microbiome may have a role in preventing allergies. The Institut Pasteur is an international research and education institute that is committed to advancing science, medicine and public health that was founded in 1887.

As the Institut Pasteur explains, microbiomes, also referred to as gut flora, are the microorganisms that live in our digestive tract and are involved in various functions, including immune defense. Scientists have speculated for years that microbiome plays a key role in allergies, researchers from the Institut Pasteur believe that this new study demonstrates how a reduced number of microbiota can lower the effectiveness of the immune system and trigger allergies. If you have read other articles I have written, you know I often talk about the importance of gut health.

Genetics does play a role in environmental allergies, but experts believe the use of insecticides, germicides and antibacterial substances has sanitized our environment. Thus killing off helpful bacteria and in return lowers the number of microbes in our intestines, which contributes to the rise in allergies. “This is referred to as the hygiene hypothesis, which states that a lack of exposure to parasites and infectious agents during childhood can interfere with the development of the immune system and raise the risk of developing allergies, particularly when combined with antibiotic overuse.”

Allergies occur when your immune system mistakes a harmless substance as a germ. To protect your body from the allergen, your immune system goes on attack mode and produces antibodies that trigger histamine reaction. Histamine is the same chemical released when you have a cold. So the longer you are exposed to the allergen, the longer the symptoms last.

It sounds really crazy that your gut could affect your sinuses, but the two systems are very much intertwined. Both the respiratory and digestive tract are barriers to the outside world, meaning it’s their job to protect the body from outside invaders. When our gut health suffers, the rest of our body suffers.

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Dr. Wayne M. Fichter Jr. is a chiropractor at Natural Spine Solutions. The business is located at 3913 Schreiber Way in Coeur d’Alene. For more information, please contact us at 208-966-4425.