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Poison Ivy And Poison Oak


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So I questioned my mother about the eating the leaves theory. It was her grandfather who would eat a leaf every Spring. I asked why nobody else in the family followed his example and she said none were that brave!

 

Hehe.. I'm guessing he was already immune and the eating a left was just to show off.

 

OTOH, she's become more allergic to bee stings and the doctor puts a tiny amount of venom under the tongue as treatement. Illogical to me if repeated exposure causes worse reactions but I'm not a doctor!

 

Enjoy,

 

Randy

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<snip>OTOH, she's become more allergic to bee stings and the doctor puts a tiny amount of venom under the tongue as treatement.  Illogical to me if repeated exposure causes worse reactions but I'm not a doctor!

 

Enjoy,

 

Randy

</snip>

The short answer is that there are four basic types of allergic reactions. The bee sting reaction is a Type 1, and this can be "de-sensitized."

The poison oak reaction (also called "contact dermatitis") is a Type 4 reaction and cannot be de-sensitized.

 

The long answer is too complicated for me to explain to lay people...

[Actually--I'd have to go up in the attic and dust off my Immunology textbook--but that was painful enough the first time :tired: !]

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