Worms, Nuts and Killer Shrimps - Allergies Explained

This video was sponsored by GiveWell. 

Sources & further reading:

Allergies are more than just overreactions – they might be an evolutionary relic from a time when worms invaded our bodies daily.

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CHAPTERS
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0:00 Give Well Sponsorship Part 01
0:30 Video Start
1:25 This is Very Upsetting – And Interesting
5:34 What Is an Allergy?
10:15 Give Well Sponsorship Part 02
11:10 A Special Piece of kurzgesagt
14:29 Happy Holidays

[kurzgesagt]

This video was sponsored by GiveWell.

[hello-hbll]

"Mr. President, there is a spider in the bathroom!"
"..."
"It was an honor, boys."

[SnoopyKendall]

My late wife struggled with MCAS, or Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. In relation to this video, basically it meant that her body's immune system viewed nearly everything as a "threat" and produced Mast Cells in incredible numbers to fight this imaginary threat. Towards the end of her life her MCAS was so bad that she was on a nearly all-liquid diet after a few years of turkey and rice being the only solid foods that her system could handle decently well. She was consistently ill, dehydrated but like bloated from the water that the Mast Cells and the immune system create to fight this war, and was consistently taking Benadryl to fight off hives and allergic reactions.

She was an incredibly strong woman but her MCAS combined with Ehlors Danlos caused her internal organs to begin to fail and she was granted the opportunity to use the MAID (Medical Assistance in Death) program here in Canada in July 2023.

Thank you Kurzgesagt for producing a story like this. While MCAS on its own was not the focal point, anything that produces more awareness of Mast Cells and what they can do to the body gives more knowledge to a world that often saw my wife as a hypochondriac rather than as someone suffering from a debilitating condition.

[gloomy]

Been here since 2016. My brother died of allergy, i must thank you for approaching this topic <3

[nabinnyc]

Food allergy triggered anaphylaxis is something I've had to deal with as a parent since my son was an infant. Society has made huge progress in 10 years, and medical care has as well (Xolair), but I'm so glad to see this covered by Kurzgesagt. So many people still dismiss it or make it a punchline when it is a deadly issue that people have to manage every single day. Thank you for raising awareness and highlighting that it can kill in just minutes.

[ra]

I just want to say how much I appreciate the audio quality on this channel. I didn't even know so many channels had poor audio quality until this channel came along.

[Sparkz]

Amazing how you guys depict the battles of the immune system with the drama, action, and intensity they are from the perspective of the cells. Felt like I was watching an action movie!

[CalmBlueSea]

You should do a remake of Bacteriaphages. It's been over 6 years since you uploaded it and the world has changed a lot in the last 6 years, both good and bad.

Edit: Shout-out BlackVoidAA for giving me the title. The "remake" is titled "Why Scientists Are Puzzled By This Virus". I say "remake" with quotation marks, because it's not so much about their biology, but more so on their interactions between human cells and bacteria.

[Sb_FIle]

I have multiple life-threatening food allergies and this possibility haunts me daily, and i'm glad people are approaching this topic finally.

[magnushawk]

Appreciate the “Lisan Al-Gaib” Mast cell at 3:30

[robertpanienka]

Danke! Ihr macht großartige Videos, sehr informatv und spannend. Macht bitte weiter.

[lba]

3:17 "And then, they just lie and wait. Angrily." 😭😭

[editorials]

Thanks for producing this. I've struggled with allergies my whole life, and in fact just two days ago while at a company dinner I (believe) I consumed a trace amount of cashew nuts which caused severe abdominal pains, sickness and other symptoms for... well - until now over 30 hours later. Allergies are such a poorly understood topic, people assume that they are not that common or that serious - or sometimes a personal choice. The reality when you have them, especially serious allergies, is far from it. Thanks for raising their profile.

[Techydad]

My 17 year old son has Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. His mast cells are constantly fighting imaginary worms 24/7. It leads to hives, itchiness, pain, and exhaustion. He has immune system bombs going off in his body all the time, every single day, and he can't get them to stop.

We're trying new medications and treatments for MCAS and other issues he has (EDS and POTS which often go along with MCAS). Sadly, nothing has helped just yet and he's barely making it from day to day.

I'm definitely going to recommend this video when i try to describe what MCAS is like.

[ehnehm]

"An allergy is like finding a spider in your bedroom and exploding a nuclear bomb."
A valid reaction.

[sneak]

Awesome production quality! I currently have MCAS, a disorder not recognized by major medical research, and this sheds light onto not only my condition, but the thousands of others who have it!

[Vlix]

I have a allergy that has been wrecking my life for almost a decade now, any greens outside especially trees and tomato plants (not the fruits) give me rashes like burns. It's nice to know more about it as allergies (besides the really bad ones) are downplayed at least where i am from to a depressingly low degree of influence on your health even when i yearly have things similar to second degree burns which don't allow me to move wherever i get so unlucky as to get a big outbreak of rash. It's a lot better in winter but i still get itchy whenever i handle firewood as it a lot of the time has residue from plants or lichens all over them.
Thanks a lot on doing videos about things people don't usually take much thought in but impacts a great many people!

[evangonzalez]

8:14 is the classiest way I've ever seen diarrhea/vomiting depicted, well done 😆

[fluffyplasma]

I love how diverse these videos are in terms of the topics they cover. And two videos in two days? Amazing!

[sanstheskeleton-lozj]

As a person who has the most common, yet most annoying allergy, dust-mite allergy very severely (I got 2 surgeries, and monthly injections, just to be able to breath and I am 16yrs old), I loved the vid, incorporated alot