01/05/2022 By acomputer 520 Views

Allergy: a man almost died of cold when he got out of his shower

A 34-year-old American almost froze to death when he got out of his shower! A very real information which has just been reported by the doctors of the Emergency department of the hospital of Denver (Colorado) in the Journal of emergency medicine. When he had just taken a very hot shower, the man collapsed on the floor of the bathroom, victim of a sharp drop in blood pressure. When his family discovered him, he was breathing heavily and had hives all over his body, one of the first signs of an allergy.

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Taken to the Emergency Department, doctors diagnosed him with anaphylactic shock and had to give him two shots of epinephrine to stem the drop in blood pressure and combat acute respiratory distress. He was then admitted to the intensive care unit for monitoring. of anaphylaxis and the doctors confirmed, by the test of the ice cube, the suspicion of allergy to the cold. This simple test consists of applying an ice cube to the skin for a few seconds. If the epidermis immediately begins to swell, this is a sign of an allergy to cold.

An acquired or hereditary allergy

Allergie : un homme a failli mourir de froiden sortant de sa douche

Generally this form of chronic and recurrent allergy is manifested by simple attacks of urticaria without major complications. It can be either acquired or hereditary. The hereditary forms are transmitted generally last throughout the life of the patient while the acquired forms improve or disappear after a few years. This 34-year-old patient had lived in Micronesia and had suffered several episodes of allergic reaction to cold since moving to Colorado. But until then the only symptoms were attacks of hives.

More info: The big book of allergies by the French Federation of Allergology, Eyrolles editions