What does latex do to your body?

What latex does to your body depends on whether you are allergic and whether you mean natural rubber latex exposure or latex paint. For most people without allergy, natural latex contact is harmless, it just touches skin and provides elasticity, such as in gloves or clothing. For people with latex allergy or sensitivity, latex proteins trigger immune system to release histamine, causing symptoms ranging from mild skin irritation, redness, itching, hives, and contact dermatitis where latex touched, to more severe reactions like sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes, coughing, wheezing, and in severe cases anaphylaxis with difficulty breathing, drop in blood pressure, and swelling, which is life threatening and requires emergency treatment. Repeated exposure can increase sensitivity. Latex can also cause irritant contact dermatitis from friction and sweating under gloves, not true allergy. If latex enters body via gloves during surgery or condoms, reaction can be internal. For latex paint, inhaling fumes can cause mild respiratory irritation but not allergy. So for non-allergic people, latex does nothing harmful, but for allergic, it triggers immune reaction causing skin and respiratory symptoms and potentially anaphylaxis.