text: At the school I teach at some kids can go into Anaphylaxis shock from the strangest things and they don;t even have to touch them (just be in the same area in some instances):\n\nLatex, fish, excersize, foods, nuts, medicines etc.\n\nBut there are some cases that no reason or link can be made -\n\nUnknown: A substantial proportion of sufferers have no cause found despite all efforts, even in the most expert clinics. Doctors call such unexplained attacks 'idiopathic anaphylaxis' The word 'idiopathic' in practice means we don't know the cause. Worrying as it is, death from this is very rare indeed. However, there must be a cause or causes. Some cases are bound to be simple failure to find a cause and I always regard this diagnosis as provisional, but if a recognised allergy specialist has given you this label it is unlikely that another specialist will do any better. The explanation is NOT psychological in the vast majority. So in most cases this is a disease for which medical science has not yet discovered the cause. Some top experts who have studied hundreds of patients with idiopathic anaphylaxis believe that it is a disorder of mast cells, causing them to release histamine and chemicals with similar actions too easily. There is an excellent book on this condition, quite short, and intended for doctors and patients. Title: 'Idiopathic Anaphylaxis', edited by Roy Patterson, Published by OceanSide Publications Inc, Providence, Rhode Island, 1997, ISBN 0-936587-10-5.