Allergies are the 6th leading cause of chronic disease in America (1), costing American businesses more than $250 million a year due to increased absenteeism and reduced productivity. (2) With the incidence of allergies soaring, eliminating the causes and discovering new treatments is the key to bringing the epidemic under control.
What is an allergy?
When the immune system “mistakes” common substances such as pollens or nuts for a “stranger”, it can overreact and trigger an often violent response to expel the “menacing invader”, called an allergen. An allergic reaction occurs when a specific antibody, IgE, binds the allergen to a specialized white blood cell called a mast cell, releasing histamine into the circulation. The results are the commonly recognized symptoms of an allergy: itchy, watery eyes, sneezing and a runny nose. Allergic reactions can also manifest as an asthma attack, violent abdominal cramps or an immediate and severe skin reaction recognized as hives. The most serious type of allergic reaction, anaphylaxis, can lead to unconsciousness and even death.
Why allergies are increasing…unsuspected causes
Researchers have identified many substances that can induce the production of IgE antibodies. A little-recognized cause included preservatives found in vaccines. Mercury, aluminum and gelatin have all been reported in the medical literature to increase IgE concentrations, playing a potential role in the development of allergies. (3) There is evidence that MMR can induce IgE antibodies, evidence that childhood viral immunizations can induce atopic reactions (allergies). (4) Children are exposed to these substances from routine vaccinations at age two months. Because the newborn’s immune system is not fully developed, infancy is a high-risk period for allergic sensitization. Events that occur early in life, such as vaccination, can induce the development of allergies and asthma later in life.
The incidence of asthma appears to disproportionately affect socially disadvantaged residents of low-income inner-city neighborhoods. A well-documented cause is exposure to a protein found in cockroach droppings. One in five children in the United States is allergic to cockroach allergens, as indicated by a positive skin test.(5) This is believed to be the primary risk factor for the development of asthma in children downtown houses.
Exposure to antibiotics has been linked to the development of allergies. A study recently published in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Allergy(6) documents that children receiving antibiotics in the first year of life are more than four times more likely to develop asthma than children who have never taken antibiotics. When statistics are adjusted for factors such as gender, ethnicity, family size, family history of asthma and parental smoking habits, the risk of developing asthma is six times more in those who have received antibiotics than the risk in children who have never taken them.
Common Health Concerns: Consider Allergies
Allergies are often the underlying cause of a myriad of seemingly unrelated health issues. Many people don’t realize that symptoms such as body aches, fatigue, indigestion, headaches, ear infections, irritability, hyperactivity, and learning disabilities can be neglected food and environmental allergy symptoms. Studies have revealed the following facts:
o Results from a study of 104 children with chronic ear infections showed that 78% had positive food allergy tests and that an elimination diet resulted in a significant improvement in symptoms in 86%. The most common allergenic foods were cow’s milk (38%), wheat (33%), egg white (25%), peanut (20%) and soy (17%)(7) .
o An Italian study of 204 babies found that approximately 45% had stomach ache caused by cow’s milk.(8)
o Children with inflammatory bowel disease experienced prolonged remission of symptoms when following diets that eliminated grains, dairy, and yeast.(9)
o Professor John Egger reported in the Journal of Pediatrics that epileptic who also have symptoms of food intolerance such as headaches, stomachaches, or ADHD may have seizures triggered by food additives.(10)
Additionally, many parents don’t realize that the hyperactivity, distractibility, and aggressive behaviors associated with ADD and ADHD can be triggered by food intolerances. These concepts have been around for many years and have been fully discussed in books by two researchers/doctors, Dr. Ben Feingold, author of Why your child is hyperactive and Dr. Doris Rapp, author of Is your child. Dr. Rapp documented in his book that 67% of children diagnosed with ADHD actually reacted to unrecognized food and environmental allergies.
What can be done?
An unusual but effective way to identify and treat allergies is to use kinesiologycommonly called muscle testing. With this method, the patient holds a vial containing a suspected allergen in their hand while the practitioner applies gentle pressure to the opposite arm to measure muscle strength. If the muscle tests weak, a sensitivity to the substance has been identified.
There are several techniques that incorporate the use of kinesiology for allergy relief. Perhaps the best known is a method called NAET, named after its founder, the Nambudripad Allergy Elimination Technique. Two other similar techniques are BioSET (Dr. Ellen Cutler’s method) and Tenpenny’s Sensitivity Reduction Technique, or T-SRT (developed by Dr. Sherri Tenpenny.) All of these techniques involved the use of kinesiology, homeopathy and acupressure/acupuncture, and are classified as forms of energy medicine.
Removing allergies using energy medicine techniques can “re-engineer” the immune system so that it no longer reacts to harmless substances as if they were a threat. What makes this form of allergy elimination so remarkable is that successful treatment means you no longer need to avoid the allergen. In a study published in 2001 in Alternative Medicine Review(11), 87.2% of the 90 study participants who cleared their allergies using an energy medicine approach rated the technique’s effectiveness as “good to excellent.”
Alternative treatments for allergies are gradually being imposed. Until these methods are adopted by mainstream medicine, most will not be covered by standard health insurance. However, if the goal is to cure and eliminate allergies, many will choose to do “whatever it takes” and find a way to fit those costs into the family budget. By following a good diet and including herbs, vitamins and energy medicine techniques in a comprehensive health care program, it is possible to restore health in 2007.
