What Causes Allergies?

Allergy season is in full swing! Cars are covered in pollen, sneezes abound, and Claritin is being swiped off the shelves faster than toilet paper. 
In this video we discuss the difference between allergies and food intolerances, the role of our immune system in allergies, different types of allergy tests, and hypotheses as to why people have more allergies now than they did 100 years ago!
 
// SOURCES 
Adaptive vs innate immunity: http://www.biology.arizona.edu/immunology/tutorials/immunology/page3.html
Allergy testing info: 
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/3-reasons-why-home-allergy-tests-probably-wont-help-you/
Different kind of allergy tests review: 
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1258/acb.2011.011011
Genetic tests and allergies: 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5407010/
Importance of not putting children on diets based off of allergy tests:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/04/bogus-allergy-tests-causing-real-harm-say-experts
Blood testing for allergies: 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3314037/pdf/1840666.pdf
Making sense of allergies PDF: 
https://senseaboutscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Making-Sense-of-Allergies-1.pdf
Frequent allergies: 
(https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/allergies-more-frequent_us_561b1687e4b0e66ad4c85844)
Overactive immune system: https://www.embriahealth.com/resources/healthlifestylereports
Germany Environmental factors: 
https://www.allergicliving.com/2010/11/20/allergies-why-so-many-now/
Epigenetics and allergies: 
https://www.npr.org/2013/04/15/177319365/the-doctor-trying-to-solve-the-mystery-of-food-allergies