Getting to know

Even though anaphylaxis implies a high risk for all people undergoing an attack, some people are particularly at risk for a severe outcome:

• If you have asthma and you develop an anaphylactic attack you have a higher risk than other people to develop a severe narrowing of your bronchi which may lead to very difficult or even impossible breathing.
• If you have heart diseases you have a higher risk to develop a severe impairment of your heart function
• If you are suffering from heart conditions or hypertension and follow a treatment with beta-blockers or angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors you may have a higher risk for developing severe anaphylaxis. Beta-blockers may slow down the response to epinephrine (beta-blockers as their name suggests block the beta-adrenergic receptors. Epinephrine effects are the consequence of its binding to alpha and beta adrenergic receptors. If the beta-receptors are blocked by beta-blockers, epinephrine binding will be impaired and thus its effects will take longer to manifest). Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors can facilitate the decrease in blood pressure in case on an anaphylactic attack (because one of the effects of these drugs is to lower the blood pressure).