ABSTRACT
The first description of an immediate allergic reaction probably appeared 5000 years ago when King Menes, who then ruled Egypt, was described in 3000 B.C. as dying from a hornet sting.
Between 400 B.C. and 200 A.D., the writings of Greek physicians such as Hippocrates, Aretaeus, and Galen described individuals who suffered sudden attacks of shortness of breath that the physicians called asthma. The link between a reaction to environmental exposure and asthma was implicated in 1552, when Dr. Carden, an Italian physician, cured the archbishop of St. Andrew’s of asthma by getting rid of the archbishop’s feather quilt and pillows. Later, during the 17th century, German authors described weakness, fainting, and asthma in subjects exposed to cats, mice, dogs, and horses.
