Dr. Mercola September 20 2003 27,611 views
By Dr. Joseph Mercola with Rachael Droege
An allergy results when a person has an abnormally high sensitivity to a normally harmless substance. This can be broken down into more descriptive terms, such as multiple chemical sensitivities, food sensitivities, environmental illness or intolerances, but at the most basic level an allergy is simply a reaction to something that doesn't necessarily affect other people.
This broad definition is fitting because the causes and symptoms of allergies are extremely diverse.
A person may be allergic to a virtually unlimited list of items such as:
And allergy symptoms, which can be immediate or delayed, include:
Traditional medicine and natural medicine view allergies in very different ways. The traditional medical view is that the allergy is a result of the patient being sick or of their body malfunctioning. Natural medicine, on the other hand, views allergies as a result of the patient's chemical/allergen exposure and dietary habits. In this way, it is the patient's environment that is sick, not the patient.
Although traditional allergy treatments are one of the traditional paradigm's safer and better approaches, it has great room for improvement. My experience with conventional allergy testing, whether done through the blood (RAST) or skin, is that only 20 percent to 30 percent of patients do exceptionally well with it. It is also highly inconvenient, as patients need to go to the doctor's office every week for months or years. It clearly does not work for the majority of patients.
For the last 10 years I have been using a much-improved version of this testing, which is taught by the American Academy of Environmental Medicine, called provocation neutralization (PN). Provocation refers to "provoking a change" and neutralization refers to "neutralizing the reaction caused by provocation." The success rate for this approach is in the 80 percent to 90 percent range, and patients can receive their treatment at home.
Way Healthier Air Purifiers duplicate Nature's own methods by creating ultraviolet lightrays and hydroxyl radicals to oxidize organic odors, germs and fungi -- the most effective and safe method to clean and revitalize your indoor air. Way Healthier uses exclusive technology you won't find in any other air purifier to:
Learn More About Way Healthier Air Purifiers
During provocation-neutralization, a small amount of allergen is injected under the skin to produce a small bump called a "wheal" and then monitored for a reaction. If the person is found to have a positive reaction, such as fatigue, headache or a growth in the wheal, then the allergen is neutralized with diluted injections, or drops that go in the mouth, of the same allergen.
Although a course of PN treatment and testing can run about $1,000 to $2,000, this is less than many patients are already spending on one year's worth of allergy medicines, and it is a long-term solution that will, in most cases, provide a permanent treatment. There are also virtually no side effects with the treatment, unlike with conventional drugs. If you are interested in receiving this treatment, which we offer here at The Optimal Wellness Center, please review our new patient information.
It is important to remember that the PN program is in addition to, not a replacement for, a comprehensive nutritional approach, as most people's allergies dramatically improve when they follow the nutrition plan.
In terms of diet, avoiding sugar, fruit juices, most grains and pasteurized dairy products is nearly always helpful. Replacing commercial milk with raw milk from grass-fed cows is also usually well tolerated and highly health promoting.
Making certain that enough long-chain omega-3 fats (DHA and EPA) from fish oils are included in your diet is also helpful. I find Carlson fish oil and cod liver oil to be one of the most superior brands available as it conforms to the strictest guidelines for purity and freshness. It is available in most health food stores, and Carlson fish oil and cod liver oil are also available in our online store.
Saturated Fat Reduces Children's Allergies and Trans Fats Increase Them Vitamin E May Lower Risk of Asthma and Allergies Beneficial Bacteria (Probiotics) May Halt Allergies In Babies Herbal Therapy as Good as Zyrtec for Allergies Air Duct Cleaning Unnecessary For Preventing Allergies Dust Mites Common in U.S. Beds
Saturated Fat Reduces Children's Allergies and Trans Fats Increase Them
Vitamin E May Lower Risk of Asthma and Allergies
Beneficial Bacteria (Probiotics) May Halt Allergies In Babies
Herbal Therapy as Good as Zyrtec for Allergies
Air Duct Cleaning Unnecessary For Preventing Allergies
Dust Mites Common in U.S. Beds
I often think the increase in auto immune disease has to do with the increased amount of gluten in our diets. We have been urged to eat more and more of it, and the gluten content in grains is much higher than it was a generation or two ago.
I have suffered from many of the autoimmune diseases and they are going away as I get farther and farther from having eaten gluten (and dairy). It has been four years now and all of my systems are working better and I have much less muscle pain.
Did you know that a protien in cows milk called casiene has the same DNA that your beta cells in your pancreas that produce insulin.Maybe when you drink lots of cows milk it builds up too much in your system and causes your immune system to kill off your beta cells in your pancreas.Alberta,Canada has the highest rates of Type 1 diabetes in the whole country and it is cattle country.I have this disease and I can't even go near anything that "MOOS" This protien is even in steaks.I drank lots of milk while I was a child too.Casien is also used as a preservative in most proccessed foods.Read the ingredients in anything you buy or bought.90% probably has this in it.If you are a complete vegan you are not eating complete animal free foods.
One way you can improve your immune function is by following a treatment protocol that enables your body to regulate Vitamin D correctly. "Vitamin D" is in fact not a vitamin, but a hormone. Please go to www.marshallprotocol.com to read new research on the impact of adding a hormone to the human diet in an unregulated way given new knowledge that has been discovered on how bacteria convert this hormone to the active form which ultimately leads to immune disregulation resulting in a wide variety of inflammatory health problems. Sun exposure and the formation of “Vitamin D” in the skin is not controlled by the kidneys in individuals affected by inflammatory health conditions. These are individuals who need to have their 1, 25-D levels as well as their 25-D levels measured when their physician recommends a “Vitamin D” level be checked. Knowledge is key to one's health! Here's to your improved health!
That website touts a prescription blood pressure medication that can cause some serious side effects. I think I'll stay away from that "protocol".
Interesting article. I also read that research indicates that kids who go to day care develop better immunity than those who stay at home, supports we are overly hypersensitive about the whole things. Also, there are natural remedies such as nasal irrigation (neti pots), acupuncture that help in coping with allergies in a natural way. This site has info on what works according to scientific trials www.rvita.com/.../allergies.html check it out.
Kids who are raised with animals also have less allergies too.When I had my son and we lived in an apartment I got a kitten.All his cousins had asthma or allergies.None had any pets
I'm going to stop wheat today. I had breakfast with unfrosted wheat cereal and was very tired after it, even though I had purposely went to bed early and woke up wide awake and was wide awake in the morning until AFTER I ate my cereal, which was about an hour after I woke up. I have been wondering why I have been very tired in the morning for the past couple weeks and have eaten it everyday. I suggest others to do the same as wheat is in MANY things and when you eat a certain food that often, allergies usually form. Wheat is one of the most common allergies so it's very possible that you may have it too.
Wheat doesn't make me sleepy, but if I eat it a few times in a couple of days my right knee swells up and is painful for 3 days. When I stop wheat the swelling goes down and the pain goes away. I also find that eating potatoes more than once in a while causes my shoulders to be too painful to lie on, and I sleep on my side. I'm wondering if the wheat is also a big contributor to my insomnia, although I think that's due to stress.
I feel a lot of good would occur if sufferers of each disease chatted or wrote to each other when they find successful solutions.
This could be done on Skype. If you are interested contact me. My asthma story.
I enjoyed really good health until 58 years of age. I had changed my lifestyle. I used to cycle long distance twice a week so about 150 miles.
Desiring to start a business I cut it all out. I developed coughing and eventually after many months was spitting. Finally the mucus
was so bad I could not walk 5 minutes to the nearest shops without severe worries, I had to stop and wait for recovery during each walk.
I had to go to the doctor. Some horrible tests, I also was suffering irritable bowel syndrome they said. I recognised I was stressed.
I tried the inhaler for a few months. It cleared my breathing but not the mucus which still made me spit. They then gave me the
steroid inhaler. Within a day the mucus had gone and I had recovered breathing to 90 % or more. I can cycle again, but need to test a
days ride soon.
The improvement was so good after a month I stopped the inhaler and two months on I am OK but feel the mucus slowly coming back.
I am taking more mineral salts, eating fruit and oily fish weekly.
I only use oil for cooking and use the best virgin olive oil. But as I have a biscuit/cookie habit there is probably
a lot of sugar and bad oils in those.
I am getting sun exposure now its Spring. I sit and read outdoors.
I hope to be super fit again and may need to cut down on grains as I eat bread and biscuits.
The most disappointing thing is not being able to get a diagnoses of whether I am mineral deficient.
Beside wanting to get off steroid power inhalation I thought my sex drive was decreasing. But a lot of all my sickness may be stress.
I have not been back to my doctor and will not know what to say when I do as I was supposed to keep on the inhaler.
Your story sounds similar to mine from about 10 years ago. My ex-wife came home with two cats, which had been abandoned, so I couldn't really say too much. Within 2 months I was coughing nearly all the time, and within 3 I was rushed to hospital coughing up blood. They told me I had asthma, brought on by the cats. I was duly prescribed and inhaler for when short of breath, and a steroidal one as a preventative. The cats were 'relocated', BUT 1 year on, I was sensitive to dust-mites, and still on the drugs, which the doctor told me I would not become dependent upon, and had no side-effects.......so why was I no better, and if anything getting worse?
I took up running and Tennis, and immediately ditched the steroidal inhaler. 6 months later I threw away the other inhaler, and on the next visit to my doctor, he mumbled something about me responding well to the treatment, and having it under control. I told him what I had done, and he was horrified, saying I could die from this etc etc, but I knew that I was past the worst, and the exercise was having the desired effect.
Keep up the good work. Sometime we know our own bodies better than the doc, and we can tell if what we are doing is working, much more than they.