Allergies are likely to occur in atopic families where there's early childhood exposure to certain allergens.

Regular injections may dramatically reduce your reaction to certain allergens.

Other tests involve eliminating certain allergens from your environment and then re-introducing them to see if a reaction occurs.

Some pollutants, like diesel exhaust, activate certain allergens, increasing their potency.

How can I avoid or reduce exposure to certain allergens?

Why, you may ask, are some people "sensitive" to certain allergens while most are not?

With long-term exposure to certain allergens, your skin might darken and become leathery and cracked in specific areas.

This may require making changes in your environment or behavior to avoid or reduce your exposure to certain allergens.

There is also evidence that exposures to certain allergens in the first year of life may prevent some allergies.

Although most children with eczema may test positive for certain allergens, avoiding those substances doesn't change the course of the disease.