|
20 April 2007, 12:23
Where To Get Effective Natural Allergy Help.
Are you still in the dark about how to resolve allergy problems effectively? Sure, you can use the pills and inhalers, but they only mask your problem. The evidence is mounting and Doctors are reporting positive benefits from a powerful natural botanical from southeast Asia.
Peanuts could lead you breathless, a bowl of pulses may cause swelling of the tongue and throat, or a fish preparation may lead to redness of skin and an incessant rash. The list is endless, and these are just a handful of the common allergies that people suffer from. While their occurrence may be common, what really makes the task difficult is that there is no cure for an allergy, and the only way out is by preventing the intake of food that causes allergy.
If you're suffering form allergies no matter what the allergy is, an effective allergy treatment can be a concern. With the bad press on prescriptions and the lack of popular alternatives, natural solutions are becoming more popular. There are many old wives tales and home remedies, but most of those allergy treatments are ineffective.
There are a few common sense things you can do, like eliminate allergens in your home or avoid foods that cause reactions. You should carry an EpiPen if you are prone to an anaphylactic reaction to anything. A list of things to remove from your home can be exhaustive and actually needs to be things specific to you, so that's something you'll need to research to make that move effective.
Simply defined, an allergy is intolerance of the immune system to specific foods. You are allergic to food when your body reacts adversely to it, thereby producing excess histamine, which triggers a cascade of allergic symptoms that can affect the respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, skin or cardiovascular system.
Common Sense Allergy Tips.
There is an effective list of allergy treatments (through the link at the bottom of this article) that can help spark ideas on how to clear your home of common allergens. Some of the suggestions will take a little work, others are just common sense.
Sometimes an allergic reaction can affect you in more ways than just the obvious rash, hives, or difficulty breathing. There may be internal turmoil going on you're not aware of and the surface reaction is actually a symptom of a deeper problem. If that is the case, a natural allergy treatment may be a better solution for you.
Although an individual could be allergic to any food, such as fruits, vegetables and meat, it’s protein-rich food that more than 80 per cent of the people are allergic to.
Improved Health Can Solve Many Problems.
A good example of this comes from personal experience. My wife and I were separated for many years, and while apart my kids lived with their mother. Unfortunately for my children, their Mother was alcoholic and smoked in the house. She also kept a cat and fed them milk, all of which they were allergic to!
You could either be allergic to specific food items, or preservatives. In case of food, allergies are generally caused by protein rich food stuffs like peanuts, fish, egg, soy, wheat and pulses.
When my son came to live with me at 16 he was always plugged up, sneezey, runny eyes and so on. My daughter came two years later and had the same problems. After only a year or so living with me in a smoke free, pet free home some of their symptoms were reduced. After much discussion we concluded their symptoms had been getting worse over the years due to the poor environment they grew up in.
While an allergy may develop at any age, there is no specific cure, which can be prescribed. Doctors prescribe anti-histamine drugs and may even have to inject steroids in severe cases, but these only subdue the effects after an allergy has occurred. There is no long-term cure or means to get rid of any allergy and the only way out is to prevent the intake of food that causes the allergy.
Unfortunately for my daughter, some of her symptoms persisted and kept her away from certain friends homes because of their pets. Then along came a wonderful solution to her allergies and even an inner ear / vertigo problem she had.
I heard Mangosteen (a tropical fruit) was helping people with allergies and other health problems, so I investigated. It turned out this fruit has a special class of antioxidants called Xanthones that have been shown to improve numerous health conditions and is a great allergy treatment. The more I looked the wider my eyes got as I found tons of research, testimonials, Doctors recommendations and many other reasons to take this botanical seriously.
The symptoms vary from urticaria - red patches, indicating excess of blood supply to that region of the body, to general body rash and itching. In severe cases it may lead to breathlessness and angioneurotic oedema, where the wind pipe is blocked.
Mangosteen Facts.
When Mangosteen is prepared in its whole fruit form, it contains an amazing variety of nutrients including the Xanthone class mentioned above. Instead of going into a lot of scientific detail, I will tell you what it did for my daughter. It's easy to understand results, especially when it means relief from rashes, wheezing, hives, throat constriction and so on.
Patch test to find out the specific food that causes allergy exist. These are restrictive in nature and can only test allergy to 50 to 100 food stuffs. The method of exclusion serves best. Doctors recommend maintaining a diary. Once you know that you are allergic to something, start recording everything that you eat in a diary. It will be easier to detect the particular food whenever you develop symptoms next.
After just two bottles of Mangosteen juice my daughter was able to pet dogs and cats, her ear started to drain fluid which helped her vertigo to go away. Her sneezing and watery eyes were improved, and she found it easier to breathe deeply. This allergy treatment worked exceptionally well for her.
There are literally hundreds of documented cases of people with allergy problems much more severe than my daughters. Those people are now enjoying the freedom of nature much more, petting animals, and doing things they had to run from before drinking Mangosteen.
Once you determine what you are allergic to, it is important to learn to read food labels and thereby avoid eating food that you are allergic to. The dictum, prevention is better than cure, works best in case of allergy.
Of course you still need to be cautious about deadly things like peanuts and shellfish if that's a problem for you. But for many allergy sufferers, there is an effective natural allergy treatment in a great tasting juice.
Discover How To Get Natural Relief From Allergies. Get over it! More than 80% of all Allergies can easily be reduced or eliminated when you do this one thing every day (http://www.helpwithallergies.com).
19 April 2007, 12:54
Allergy Antidotes.
It's ragweed season and millions of people are feeling the effects -- from red, watery eyes to excessive sneezing. But help may be on the way with new twists on old treatments.
What are allergies? Over reactive immune responses to irritants like pollens, molds, dusts, etc. (called allergens.)
Immunotherapy is a way of inoculating people with small amounts of the substances they are allergic to so the body gradually develops immunity. Doctors are looking at different ways to make this process less time consuming and less painful.
Who gets allergies? Allergies often run in families and may affect all ages from infants to seniors. They may start at any age, even if you never had them before.
It is hard to even think about it as we're enjoying our last days of summer, but fall is coming, and so is ragweed season.
"I would be sneezing, running, watery eyes, itchy nose and nasal congestion," said Kim Brandt, allergy patient.
How are allergies treated? Avoiding offending agents, prescriptions or immunotherapy (vaccine).
Brandt was tired of feeling sick all the time, so she joined a study on a new way to give something called rush immunotherapy.
"Rush immunotherapy is a way of administering immunotherapy that condenses a large series of shots in a short period of time," said Dr. Mark Moss, allergist, Univ. of Wisc., Madison.
What is immunotherapy? A process of teaching the body's defense mechanism (immune system) to build a tolerance to natural allergens.
The treatment is supposed to build resistance to allergens.
Traditional immunotherapy usually involves weekly shots for the patient for up to six months. With rush immunotherapy, it's done much faster.
Does this work and is it safe? Sublingual immunotherapy is extremely safe. You start with a very small vaccine dose and slowly increase the amount as instructed. The body builds up a tolerance to the natural allergens in the vaccine.
"This could be, theoretically, could be done in about two to three weeks," said Dr. Moss.
But the procedure is not without risk. Up to one-third of the patients will have severe allergic reactions.
How long does it take for improvement? Significant improvement is often seen within 4-6 weeks. For long lasting results, you will need to continue with a maintenance dose to insure that the immune system has learned not to overreact to these allergens.
In this new study, patients were pre-medicated with the anti-allergy drug omalizumab, better know by it's brand name, Zolair. Researchers say the pre-treatment helped eliminate the risks and lead to better symptom relief.
"I have had three consecutive years of no symptoms. So, if you ask me what it has done for me, it has improved my quality of life 100 percent," Brandt said.
Does insurance cover this? Most insurance providers do cover this allergy desensitization program. Please call Allergy Solutions Group to ask if your insurance will cover this treatment program. A conventional treatment program also available for those insured that require it.
Dr. Raoul Wolf is an allergist with University of Chicago Hospitals. He says rush immunotherapy still needs to be proven, even with this new approach.
"Allergy immunotherapy has been around for a long time and it's by no means a magical answer. It's changing things. It's improving things but it's not curing anything," said Dr. Wolf.
Can I keep my pets? Yes. In most situations research and experience show that if allergies increase with animal contact, it is usually due to allergens (grass, weeds, dust, etc.) the pet has come in contact with rather than the pet itself. However, pet dander is included in the vaccine.
While many allergy patients will continue to find relief with traditional shots, a new therapy is coming down the pipeline that could help take away the "ouch" factor. It involves allergy drops given under the tongue instead of an allergy shot. Also known as sublingual therapy, it's been done in Europe for years and is considered more cost effective since it can be administered at home.
Custom Sub-lingual Drops Vaccine (under the tongue) is a vaccine made with natural allergen extract, individually custom mixed to help desensitize you from offending allergens (allergies).
Trials are now underway here in the US.
"I think the initial studies are looking good," said Dr. Mary Kay Tobin, allergist, Rush University Medical Center. "I think it's going to come down to some people respond really well to sublingual therapy and can tolerate it and some people who are going to need the traditional allergy shots."
Custom Sub-lingual Drops Vaccine is a step forward to traditional medicine on treating the cause of patients allergies, not just the symptoms. The program is available in traditional injection therapy if required.
Allergist Mary Kay Tobin at Rush University Medical Center wants to see FDA approval and some standardized solutions before she'll consider allergy drops.
There are a lot of patients, such as Bill Kohler, who are intrigued at the idea of doing the therapy at home.
• Treat the cause not just the symptoms
• Simple and precise testing for allergens
• Time efficient - Only takes minutes
• Custom mixed vaccine for the entire family
• Take the vaccine home
• Tasty drops under the tongue
"I think that would be great, certainly more convenient. I assume I could apply them myself. It would save me a trip coming down here," said Kohler.
Many doctors prescribing drops are using the allergy antigens approved by the FDA for injection delivery. This is known as an off-label prescribing and is legal but still considered controversial.
Sub-lingual (under the tongue) drops immunotherapy vaccine, enhances quality of life... [read more]
As for rush immunotherapy, it is already an available treatment, but the pre-treatment with Zolair has not yet been FDA approved, so the risk of reaction is still high.
[17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] |