What is "atopy"

1923, coined by Edward D. Perry, professor of Greek at Columbia University, at the request of medical men, from Greek atopia "unusualness, strangeness, a being out of the way," from atopos "out of place, strange, odd, eccentric," from a-, privative prefix (see a- (3)), + topos "place" (see topos).

n. 1 (context medicine English) A hereditary disorder marked by the tendency to develop localized immediate hypersensitivity reactions to allergens such as pollen, food etc and is manifested by hay fever, asthma, or similar allergic conditions; generally considered to be caused by the interaction of environmental and genetic factors. 2 A person suffering from atopic syndrome; a case of atopy.

n. an allergic reaction that becomes apparent in a sensitized person only minutes after contact [syn: immediate allergy, atopic allergy, type I allergic reaction]

Atopy ( Greek ἀτοπία - placelessness, out of place, special, unusual, extraordinary) or atopic syndrome is a predisposition toward developing certain allergic hypersensitivity reactions.

Atopy may have a hereditary component, although contact with the allergen or irritant must occur before the hypersensitivity reaction can develop.

The term atopy was coined by Coca and Cooke in 1923. Many physicians and scientists use the term "atopy" for any IgE-mediated reaction (even those that are appropriate and proportional to the antigen), but many pediatricians reserve the word "atopy" for a genetically mediated predisposition to an excessive IgE reaction.

Atopy ( Greek ατοπία, atopía - placelessness, unclassifiable, of high originality; Socrates has often been called "átopos") describes the ineffability of things or emotions that are seldom experienced, that are outstanding and that are original in the strict sense. The term depicts a certain quality (of experience) that can be observed within oneself or within others. It does not depict an ideal, although it has been abused to do so, for example by the genius-cult during the era of romanticism.