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Medicine Science

Researchers Uncover the Genetic Roots Behind Rare Vibration Allergy (vice.com) 83

Posted by timothy from the bad-vibes-man dept.
derekmead writes: A team of National Health Institute researchers has for the first time uncovered the genetic roots of one of the strangest allergies: vibrations. The vibration allergy, which is just as it sounds, may be quite rare, but understanding it more completely may yield important insights into the fundamental malfunctioning of immune cells in the presence of allergens. The group's findings are published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In addition to being uncommon, the vibration allergy is not very dangerous. In most cases, the allergic response is limited to hives—the pale, prickly rash most often associated with allergic and autoimmune reactions. Other less-common symptoms include headaches, blurry vision, fatigue, and flushing. The triggering vibrations are everyday things: jogging, jackhammering, riding a motorcycle, towel drying. Symptoms appear within a few minutes of exposure and are gone usually within an hour.
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Researchers Uncover the Genetic Roots Behind Rare Vibration Allergy More

Researchers Uncover the Genetic Roots Behind Rare Vibration Allergy

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  • Wifi allergy (Score:3)

    by waynemcdougall ( 631415 ) <slashdot@codeworks.gen.nz> on Thursday February 04, 2016 @06:24PM (#51442457) Homepage

    And what if I have a vibration allergy in the 2.4 GHz range?

    • Then you must live in the great capital city of my state, Santa Fe. [engadget.com]

      • "Then you must live in the great capital city of my state, Santa Fe. [engadget.com]"

        So Saul's crazy brother is not an aberration there?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      Or both? :P

    • And what if I have a vibration allergy in the 2.4 GHz range?

      Then you're allergic to LED lights, but only when they're on a wireless router.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        And what if I have a vibration allergy in the 2.4 GHz range?

        Then you're allergic to LED lights, but only when they're on a wireless router.

        I'm getting a bit tired of all the jokes regarding wifi allergy. They are lame and don't deal with the issue. If the issue exist, then you are making fun of handicapped people. If it doesn't exist, then you make fun of mentally ill people. On top of that, it's not even funny when people keep telling the same "joke".

        Medical books aren't flawless. Take for instance phantom pain, as in pain in amputated arms or legs. This was described as lack of nerve ping reply and can appear when nerve pathways are cut. Mis

        • You can't be allergic to flashing lights, an allergy is an immune response. You could be sensitive to flashing lights, and maybe WiFi, but the latter certainly hasn't be shown in any testing I've seen. It seems like pedantry but if you're trying to engage with scientists and medical professionals and they scoff at the idea of allergies to certain things it would be because there isn't a mechanism for that phenomena to interact with the immune system. Things can be unintuitive: iodine is too small to cro

    • If it was true, then it would be testable. To date, no person claiming WiFi allergies have been able to tell you when wifi is on or off.

  • I know someone who has the allergy (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Your mom. She gets all flush and blurry eyed when I vibrate her.

  • Everyday things (Score:5, Funny)

    by GrumpySteen ( 1250194 ) on Thursday February 04, 2016 @06:46PM (#51442621)

    The triggering vibrations are everyday things: ... jackhammering

    Really?

    • It's part of my morning routine. Wake up, take a shower, eat a sandwich, do some jackhammering, go to work. Isn't his how everyone does it?

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        I usually jackhammer-off before I shower.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      The triggering vibrations are everyday things: ... jackhammering

      Really?

      Sometimes vibrator just doesn't cut it.

  • wtf is "towel drying" (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    and why does it involve vibration... i just hang shit up and thermodynamics happens, how is everyone else drying there towels?

  • jackhammering? (Score:3)

    by AndyKron ( 937105 ) on Thursday February 04, 2016 @06:57PM (#51442691)
    Jackhammering is an every day thing? Maybe to some people I suppose.

    • You don't have to live in that large of a city before you might encounter jackhammers 3-4 weeks a year, because some construction work is being done somewhere you pass by.
      Occasions include replacing pavement, redigging underground cables, replacing lamp posts, and more.

  • I love stuff like this. Finding a scientific explanation for something that sounds like baloney. All the bogus gluten and electricity allergies have made me very skeptical about things like this, but this is fascinating. It sort of rubs me wrong, it doesn't make sense to me that vibration could induce an allergic reaction, but I cannot deny evidence like this.
    • I have vibration allergy, you insensitive clod.

      I don't get hives, my response to the allergen is to have a palsy. This, of course, creates a positive feedback loop -- until I explode.

      Yes, much like Kenny, those bastards with jackhammers kill me every time. Good thing I'm a time lord.

  • Could this be behind "wind turbine illness" a lot of people now complain about?

  • In short, they literally allergic to physical exertion.

    Reminds me of my Ex...

  • It never bothered me much, frankly, but my arms would itch every time I would mountain bike going over washboarded paths. Usually I was hanging on too hard to the handlebars to really pay much attention to it.....

    --PM

  • "You know what else vibrates? RADIO WAVES!!!"

  • I have “touch urticaria.” Especially at night when I like in bed, the pressure against my skin causes histamine production. I’ve had this checked out, and while my histamine levels are high, my IgE levels are completely normal, so this is NOT an allergic reaction. Something else is putting excessive histamine into my system. A dietician suggested that it could be intestinal flora generating histamine, and a dietary change may help, so I’ve been working on that. But at this point

  • My hands swell and get itchy when I use a weedeater for longer than 30 minutes at a time.

    I know this isn't web MD, but I think i finally have an allergy.....shit.

  • This makes me sound like I browse WebMD and then believe that I have every malady out there but I've been diagnosed with Exercise-Induced Anaphylaxis and Urticaria (http://www.aafp.org/afp/2001/1015/p1367.html). However, my doctor indicated that even vibrations can set it off. I once broke out in hives while just standing at a concert. The boom-boom-boom of the beats over the course of a couple of hours was, apparently, enough to bring out the hives. Shit sucks. I have to take Zyrtec to exercise, take a

    • I had exercise-induced urticaria, but it was the result of an actual food allergy. I would occasionally break out in hives after a long run, or when taking a hot shower after a run. I went to a dermatologist (or maybe it was an allergist, I forget now) and had the 40-pin skin test. It showed a pronounced allergy to beef and tomatoes. I stopped eating beef and tomatoes before a run (so long Philly cheese steaks...), and haven't had urticaria in over ten years, despite still running distances and taking h

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