Allergy: The “Whole” Story

A subspecialist friend of mine once told me, in jest, “get an organ” as we were debating over which of us should manage a disease that overlapped in both of our specialties. However, to do so is impossible in the field of allergy. As allergist-immunologists, we quickly came to understand that allergic diseases are immunologic, and by definition, in volve the entire body. It is true that many allergic diseases manifest predominantly in 1 organ, such as asthma involving the lung or atopic dermatitis involving the skin, yet all allergic diseases are systemic.
Source: Medical Clinics of North America - Category: Primary Care Authors: Tags: Preface Source Type: research