And in the reading I have done, they say it is not a histaminic response and so not a typical allergy or even allergy at all. However the phenomenon of getting the hive-like thingies in response to water does happen. It is allergic in the everyday sense of an overreaction by the body to a substance that does not normal cause adverse reactions.
Scientifically, give some reasons why it is NOT possible to be Allergic to WATER/H20?
- Thread starter LanceLeblanc
- Start date
No. There are a variety of molecule types other than proteins that can be recognised by the immune system and can illicit an immune response of one type or another.
With respect to the OP, the key phrase is recognised by the immune system. Water may cause some form of contact dermatitis in some unfortunate individuals, but it certainly cannot be a specific immune response in the sense that the water is being recognised by the immune system, as has been pointed out by a couple of people. Our immune systems cannot recognise water; we are water.
But it’s likely that an immune response is being indirectly activated by an unknown mechanism resulting in cytokine release and T lymphocyte activation. This is the sort of immune response you get with poison ivy and the like. So maybe in that sense you can label it as an immune response.
I thought it did involve mast cell degranulation, but I could be wrong.
I also thought that 'true allergy', if it means anything, means a molecular reaction between exogenous antigens and antibodies or lymphocyte receptors.
I said before that the four types of hypersensitivities were allergies, but thinking more, I think that perhaps only Type I (definitely) and Type IV (maybe some) hypersensitivities are properly allergies. Hmm.
Thanks Herc. It's good to be vindicated, even a few decades later. This is the exact same sort of semantics argument I ended up in with my Dr.
I'm not stupid, all you usually have to do is explain the reaoning a little itty-bit and I can get some sort of handle on it. What you're saying here is what I tried to to say to the Doc...
But - I got that "God" reaction - 'No, silly boy, that's not an allergy'. No explanation, mind you, just a proclamation. Logically, I was more like: WTF? What do you mean these hives, sniffles, etc. are not caused by an allergy? The effect is reproducible (any sort of prolonged pressure, like tight clothes, would produce the response fairly reliably), the symptoms matched everything I'd ever heard about allergic responses, yet this wasn't an allergy, just because he couldn't tie it to a specific allergen? WTF?
Anyway, thanks again - I will go back to my original interpretation, dropped quite literally over thirty years ago...
You know, I don't think it's always appropriate to get hung up on labels.
Stick to what we know:
- There are people who break out in hives when they get water on their skin.
- It's not caused by water molecules being recognized as antigens
- We don't know what the mechanism is
It seems reasonably meaningful to call it an allergy to water, at least in ordinary conversation, and it does not seem particularly useful to say it's not an allergy.
there can be possibility of an allergy.maybe the girl is not allergic to water but to some extra elements like chlorine that we oftenly add to water. or it could be due to some bacterial or viral toxin (if the place she lives in is polluted). yes, a major part of our body is water but our immune system that produces strange allergic responces to alien particle, is able to distinguish between self and non self components of the body. the possibility could be anything. or maybe this weird allergy is a result of some genetic disorder
Omar Temsah
Registered Member
If it is really an allergy as she said; read this:
Aquagenic urticaria, also known as water urticaria and aquagenous urticaria, is a rarely diagnosed form of physical urticaria. It is sometimes described as an allergy, although it is not a true histamine releasing allergic reaction like other forms of urticaria. The defining symptom is a painful skin reaction resulting from contact with water.This may also be a cause of different temperatures of water, such as cold or hot and can flare with chemicals such as chlorine.
Symptoms:
Aquagenic urticaria usually causes the skin to itch and burn after being exposed to water of any kind. The skin may develop hives. Showers may result in severely dry eyes and soreness. Higher water temperatures tend to expedite the formation of hives. Shortness of breath or swelling in the throat can occur when drinking water. The pain usually persists for between 10–120 minutes.
Causes:
Contact with any form of water can cause symptoms to appear. One's own or someone else’s sweat can cause a reaction, so most affected people try to stay cool in summer to avoid sweating as much as possible. Tears on one's face from crying can also cause pain. Most people with aquagenic urticaria try to stay out of the rain and carry umbrellas as a precautionary measure. Cleansing the body often induces such an intense reaction that affected people may take very short showers to lessen the severity of the pain.
Treatment:
There is no known treatment for aquagenic urticaria. Dermatologists recommend avoiding contact with water as much as possible by taking short showers, staying cool, and avoiding rain to ease symptoms. Antihistamines, Zostrix, and other types of medications may be prescribed to help reduce the intensity of the reaction.
there can be possibility of an allergy.maybe the girl is not allergic to water but to some extra elements like chlorine that we oftenly add to water. or it could be due to some bacterial or viral toxin (if the place she lives in is polluted). yes, a major part of our body is water but our immune system that produces strange allergic responces to alien particle, is able to distinguish between self and non self components of the body. the possibility could be anything. or maybe this weird allergy is a result of some genetic disorder
Don't know if this has been mentioned but I did read about this allergy some time ago and I know some with this condition can come in contact with distilled water with less problems. Which I wonder if it isn't a reaction (for some) to something in the water ( as has been mentiioned)
But also some react to any water (like I do: itchy raw red rash) but it is simply from it's drying effect on the skin. If I moisturize or better yet monitor my Vitamin D level (keep it up to normal range) which effects my autoimmune system which reacts to the drying effect on my weakened skin layer, it helps tremendously. Also products that build my collagen and therefore my protective layer help too.
I have an old acquaintance who developed this allergy but my impression was that the allergy was to drinking pure water. She spent months in the hospital (she went home to her country, Japan) and I could never understand what she could drink if not water. She seems to have recovered from it though.
Has anyone heard of allergies to drinking water? I know it doesnt make sense, but that's what I remember she said.
Has anyone heard of allergies to drinking water? I know it doesnt make sense, but that's what I remember she said.
Woman dies of Allergy to WATER
H2O/'water' intolerant individuals can only live on milk or diet coke.
Substances which are part H2O don't invoke reactions because the dhm is bound up in other molecules, and it is the shape of the molecules which triggers the allergic reaction. In this particular case, the more pure, the worse it is. (Esp. DISTILLED dhm or bodily secretions/humidity) Look it up. A girl in the UK named Hedi is constantly in pain and even a SINGLE drop of rain on her skin, tears, blood, etc could sent her into analphatic shock. The UNBOUND H2O (allergen) molecules penetrate Mast Cell membranes, or triggering Anti-Gens/Antibodies developed for dhmo, releasing histamine.
There was an ep of this on 1,000 ways to die, the poor woman was allergic to H2O/Dihydrogen Monoxide and the fire extinguishers went off and she made contact with the solvent; she suffered an allergic reaction where her throat closed up and she died; also there is eps of this on Maury and on Tyra (watched them both myself and made me feel completely different about DHMo being 'good' for you) no wonder were intolerant to it; with all these pro-DHMo communities spreading lies and not important facts. They are NOT allergic to chemicals but actually the H 2 O itself. as DISTILLED water sets them off.
Also, the body is 60% LIQUID, there is NO h2O unless in the case of toxicity. Externals are VERY different in structure from internals. These people use a special cream to stop it from touching their skin.
H2O/'water' intolerant individuals can only live on milk or diet coke.
Substances which are part H2O don't invoke reactions because the dhm is bound up in other molecules, and it is the shape of the molecules which triggers the allergic reaction. In this particular case, the more pure, the worse it is. (Esp. DISTILLED dhm or bodily secretions/humidity) Look it up. A girl in the UK named Hedi is constantly in pain and even a SINGLE drop of rain on her skin, tears, blood, etc could sent her into analphatic shock. The UNBOUND H2O (allergen) molecules penetrate Mast Cell membranes, or triggering Anti-Gens/Antibodies developed for dhmo, releasing histamine.
There was an ep of this on 1,000 ways to die, the poor woman was allergic to H2O/Dihydrogen Monoxide and the fire extinguishers went off and she made contact with the solvent; she suffered an allergic reaction where her throat closed up and she died; also there is eps of this on Maury and on Tyra (watched them both myself and made me feel completely different about DHMo being 'good' for you) no wonder were intolerant to it; with all these pro-DHMo communities spreading lies and not important facts. They are NOT allergic to chemicals but actually the H 2 O itself. as DISTILLED water sets them off.
Also, the body is 60% LIQUID, there is NO h2O unless in the case of toxicity. Externals are VERY different in structure from internals. These people use a special cream to stop it from touching their skin.
Aquagenic pruritus: Beneath water "lies"
It's really hard to say there's so few studies, one of the main one was from 1981 which, with no repeats of those experiments, shouldn't be definitive.
One case study seemed to suggest it was, for one patient, cold activating mast cells because warm water had no effect. Maybe it's a problem with regulating osmotic pressure through the skin?
It's really hard to say there's so few studies, one of the main one was from 1981 which, with no repeats of those experiments, shouldn't be definitive.
One case study seemed to suggest it was, for one patient, cold activating mast cells because warm water had no effect. Maybe it's a problem with regulating osmotic pressure through the skin?
Though isn't it reasonable to assume waters an allergen, giving the molecules are so large that they can be seen on your skin if you look close enough? and the whole chemical make up of h2o? sounds like an allergen to me.
Come on Alex, you've got to be putting us on. Even a normal microscope won't let you see a single water molecule which is only made up with just 3 atoms. Next how could anybody who's bodies are mostly water be be allergic to it? It's just not a reasonable assumption to make or believe in.
Well it is just look up Aquagenic Uticaria or Aquagenic Priritus; some people suffer every single day because their bodies cannot tolerate H 2 O it can even make their throat close up if they drink it and filtered/distilled water can even set them off. basically its just like an allergy to peanuts but worse
Does look like a problem in more ways than one. But still I don't think I would call it an allergy.
I wonder how these people clean themselves. Hard to imagine never taking a shower or going for a swim in a pool on a hot day.
They bath in milk, one woman bathes in Diet Cola because it contains either no water or BOUNDED water, which cannot harm her as it wouldn't fit into the antibody binding sites as the molecular shape changed during carbonation.
The molecular shape of water does not change due to carbonation. And water cannot be recognized by an antibody, as the environment that antibodies exist in is 95%+ water.
Allergies are protein reactions.
Water is not a protein, therefore it cannot be a true allergy...
Nobody seems to know what causes the reaction.
I feel for those who have this though...I've learned to be really careful about what brand of hair conditioner I use. Otherwise I can end up with a rash on my shoulders or down my back after a shower...and worst-case scenario, reacting to my own hair.
Usually my allergies are better after a shower, so when I get out and start itching...I know something's wrong.
Water is not a protein, therefore it cannot be a true allergy...
Nobody seems to know what causes the reaction.
I feel for those who have this though...I've learned to be really careful about what brand of hair conditioner I use. Otherwise I can end up with a rash on my shoulders or down my back after a shower...and worst-case scenario, reacting to my own hair.
Usually my allergies are better after a shower, so when I get out and start itching...I know something's wrong.
If those ALLERGIC TO WATER are actually allergic to stuff in the water, why does..?
DISTILLED water set them off? To me it really sounds like the culprit is the H2O molecule itself, degranulating mastytes and setting off a reaction or a toxic response. These people are allergic to rain, sweat, blood, tears, humidity - even fog. Aquagenic Uticaria or Aquagenic Puritis is diagnosed by placing tap water, then distilled water and observing the reaction.
Lemonade, diet coke and milk are safe as the water is carbonated or bonded into another compound; making it entirely different altogether - they can survive off of this. A single drop could send a young British girl into shock, she can only drink milk due to it\'s chemical structure and has to wear a special oil to stop water making contact with her skin, she cannot drink it as it would cause her throat to close up. She has to eat dry foods.
SOURCES: Medical journals, Opera, Tyra, Maury, 1,000 ways to die (woman died because the fire extingushers went off, and she was allergic to water) news articles, talking to nurses/ friends and personal research.
3 of my friends experience feelings of their throat closing up or swelling when they drink bottled or spring water.
also, the girl in the UK has to run air conditioners constantly so she doesn\'t sweat, she cant touch her boyfriend if he\'s been sweating. For these people, a single drop makes their whole body break out into painful, burning itchy hives. More severe symptoms can occur and capascin cream can help. t them off.?
DISTILLED water set them off? To me it really sounds like the culprit is the H2O molecule itself, degranulating mastytes and setting off a reaction or a toxic response. These people are allergic to rain, sweat, blood, tears, humidity - even fog. Aquagenic Uticaria or Aquagenic Puritis is diagnosed by placing tap water, then distilled water and observing the reaction.
Lemonade, diet coke and milk are safe as the water is carbonated or bonded into another compound; making it entirely different altogether - they can survive off of this. A single drop could send a young British girl into shock, she can only drink milk due to it\'s chemical structure and has to wear a special oil to stop water making contact with her skin, she cannot drink it as it would cause her throat to close up. She has to eat dry foods.
SOURCES: Medical journals, Opera, Tyra, Maury, 1,000 ways to die (woman died because the fire extingushers went off, and she was allergic to water) news articles, talking to nurses/ friends and personal research.
3 of my friends experience feelings of their throat closing up or swelling when they drink bottled or spring water.
also, the girl in the UK has to run air conditioners constantly so she doesn\'t sweat, she cant touch her boyfriend if he\'s been sweating. For these people, a single drop makes their whole body break out into painful, burning itchy hives. More severe symptoms can occur and capascin cream can help. t them off.?