system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How does allergy medication stop reactions to allergens, but not your immune responce to actual threats?
gpt
Benadryl is a common allergy drug which functions by blocking the activity of histamine. Histamine is released largely from Mast cells to trigger the inflammatory reaction associated with seasonal allergies. These effects include vasodilation, edema, and erythema. By blocking the activity of this cytokine you can alleviate these troublesome symptoms. Inflammation does serve an important role in boosting the immune response because it allows for easier entry of immune cells into the site of injury/infection and activates them to induce a stronger response. It is important to note that the inflammatory reaction is not required for a successful immune response. Although inflammation is significant in bolstering the primary immune response to an antigen (the first encounter with the agent), the secondary immune response (memory from previous exposure or vaccination) can function quite effectively without inflammatory chemicals like histamine.