What are the different types of allergic disease?
The pattern of allergic disease varies with age. In infancy, eczema is the most common problem along with some sort of milk or egg allergy. These problems get less with age and many children are entirely symptom free by 3 to 4 years of age. However, as the frequency of eczema gets less, so the frequency of asthma increases. This continues to varying degrees throughout life. By 5 to 8 years of age there is then an increase in the frequency of hayfever. This may improve by the late teens in some people while in others it may get worse. In adult life, those with significant eczema, asthma and hayfever continue to suffer symptoms. However, others may develop one of several problems without an obvious allergic basis such as irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome. These are likely to be due to interactions between several factors such as an unusual microbial infection, persistent stress, a subtle alteration in immune function and alterations in the perception of sensory signal
