Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren bog Obam here with a classic episode
Speaker 1: from our archives. There's a much greater awareness these days
Speaker 1: of allergies and sensitivities, which is great for those of
Speaker 1: us who have, for example, specific dietary needs, but of
Speaker 1: all the things that people avoid to keep themselves feeling okay.
Speaker 1: Our question of the day is can people be allergic
Speaker 1: to water? Hey brain Stuff, Lauren bog bomb here. When
Speaker 1: Alexandra Allen was twelve years old, she did what most
Speaker 1: kids do when they're on a family vacation. She went
Speaker 1: for a swim in the hotel pool. Unlike most kids, though,
Speaker 1: Alexandra had a severe reaction to her swim. Her skin
Speaker 1: broke out and angry, itchy welts just a few short
Speaker 1: hours after leaving the water. What began as an ordinary
Speaker 1: summer day ended in the eventual diagnosis that would change
Speaker 1: Allen's life. She shelved her dreams of living on a
Speaker 1: sailboat and working as a marine biologist after discovering she
Speaker 1: was allergic to water. An allergy to water seems like
Speaker 1: an improbable condition, After all, water is a chief chemical
Speaker 1: component in the human body. Accounting for at least six
Speaker 1: of the average person's weight. Water whisks toxins out of
Speaker 1: critical organs, ferries nutrients to hungry cells, and creates the
Speaker 1: human conditions needed for ear, nose, and throat health. In short,
Speaker 1: water is essential to life. In the case of water allergies,
Speaker 1: only the skin is affected. People with this condition can
Speaker 1: still safely drink water. It's only when water of any
Speaker 1: temperature or origin touches the skin that a hypersensitive allergic
Speaker 1: reaction occurs. The condition, known as aquagenic uticaria, is called
Speaker 1: an allergy, but isn't medically classified as a true allergy.
Speaker 1: It's actually an allergy like reaction that belongs to a
Speaker 1: subset of physical r tucaria, a group of conditions characterized
Speaker 1: by hives or welts that arise from stimulation of the skin.
Speaker 1: In the case of aquagenic your tcaria, red swollen, itchy
Speaker 1: bumps form when water touches the skin. This histamine reaction
Speaker 1: isn't directed at the water itself, but is most likely
Speaker 1: a reaction to a water soluble antigen that stimulates antibodies.
Speaker 1: Any type of water, distilled, tap or rain will cause
Speaker 1: an outbreak almost immediately and can make bathing or getting
Speaker 1: caught outside in a rainstorm a tortuous proposition. Aquagenic Ured
Speaker 1: caria is so rare that fewer than one occurrences have
Speaker 1: been recorded in medical literature since the first cases were
Speaker 1: described in nineteen sixty four. It affects women more than men,
Speaker 1: and most often begins during puberty. It's usually diagnosed by
Speaker 1: putting the skin into prolonged contact with water. In Alan's case,
Speaker 1: physicians asked her to soak in a tub to diagnose
Speaker 1: the condition. The cause of these water allergies still alludes experts.
Speaker 1: One theory is that sweat glands could be the culprit.
Speaker 1: It's possible that spet glands in certain people produce a
Speaker 1: toxin that leads to an allergic reaction with water, while
Speaker 1: researchers remain unshore of the root cause of the condition.
Speaker 1: Most cases can be treated with antihistamines and controlled by
Speaker 1: avoiding contact with water as much as possible. Today's episode
Speaker 1: was written by Laurie L. Dove and produced by Tristan
Speaker 1: McNeil and Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots
Speaker 1: of other sensitive topics, visit house toffworks dot com. Brainstuff
Speaker 1: is production of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts from my
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