I’ve just read a statistic that says that more than 14% of the children under 18 years old in Manitoba have a chronic respiratory disease. The percentage is higher than in other countries, thus making scientists and doctors think that this is an epidemic in Manitoba and in Canada. However, even in Europe there are plenty of children who come to the doctor complaining of respiratory symptoms such as allergy and asthma.

Researchers in Winnipeg, Vancouver, Toronto and Edmonton decided to conduct a revolutionary study, aimed on children with asthma, study which would record information in real time. Hopefully, 5000 pregnant women are to be recruited to take part in this study, in which they would fill in a questionnaire and they would allow scientists to take samples of toxins like dust mites, molds, pet dander from their homes.
(Source of information: Times & Transcript)

There is no doubt that we live in a very polluted environment, in almost all cities across the globe, so I cannot imagine this study would change the allergy or asthma pattern in small children, but at least there are a few tiny steps towards understanding the mechanism and the triggers of these still unknown diseases which affect such a big part of the children population.

Categories: Allergy News, Allergy general info, Uncategorized
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We hear a lot these days about allergy medication, but do we know how it works and why it works? Most of all, do we have the understanding that allergy medication is meant to only alleviate the symptoms and not to cure the allergy in itself? Allergy is not curable and it only gets worse when you expose yourself frequently to the allergens that trigger allergic response from your immune system. Therefore, you need to stay away as much as possible from those substances, once you’ve been tested and you know which they are, if you want your allergy symptoms not to get emphasized.

Allergy Medication Types

The main allergy medication types are antihistamines and vaccines. While antihistamine medication has the role of decreasing the histamine secretion of the body, thus reducing the associated symptoms, vaccines have the role of desensitizing the patient, thus diminishing his allergic response to certain allergens exposure. One type of allergy medication does not exclude the other, they can function as a whole, in order to keep the allergic person symptoms-free. Antihistamines are usually taken in high allergy seasons, like fall and spring, because of the pollens that get airborne and get easily inhaled by pollen allergy sufferers. Vaccines are administered for long periods of time, like years, followed by breaks of months or even years, so they can be called a long-term allergy medication.

How To Determine Which Allergy Medication Is Good For You

You should never treat your allergy with medication you’ve heard about from your neighbors or friends. Go see an allergology specialist, because he’ll test you and he’ll determine which kind of substances your body is more responsive to. For example, vaccines are not suitable for all types of allergies and for all stages of the disease. Moreover, they are not found in regular pharmacies, and even if they were, their availability would have been by prescription only. Antihistamine allergy medication is considered OTC in most of the countries, so you can buy products like that without having to see a doctor first.

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The  Volvo XC60 has been added to the list of cars recommended for allergy and asthma sufferers, by the Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association. The most important asset that recommended Volvo XC60 to be included on this list is the excellent air quality inside the vehicle. This high quality, clean air is obtained with the help of two innovations made by the Swedish car manufacturer: IAQS (Interior Air Quality System) and CZIP (Clean Zone Interior Package). These systems are important to allergy sufferers, because they clean the filtered air much better than other filtering devices, thus allowing less toxins to pass by and enter the passengers’ lungs and airways.

Moreover, Volvo replaced chrome with a natural extract from plants for tanning the leather upholstery. Additionally, the door handles and other metallic parts inside the vehicle were manufactured in such a manner that the quantity of nickel released in the atmosphere is lower than usual.

The XC60 is not the first Volvo car that makes it on the Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association allergy-safe cars list. It follows the S80, V70 and XC70, fact which shows that Volvo cares not only about road safety of vehicles, but also of the quality of life of people with chronic conditions such as allergy or asthma sufferers.

Categories: Allergy News, Allergy general info
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Regular drinking of alcohol increases the risk of developing allergic rhinitis.

Danish researchers from the Centre for Alcohol Research, National Institute of Public Health Denmark, organized a study with the aim of investigating how daily alcohol ingestion relates to the occurence of allergic rhinitis in young women. This prospective cohort study was done on 5870 women between 20 and 29 years old, who were free of either seasonal or perennial allergic rhinitis, and it took two years.

The results showed that there was no association between alcohol consumption and seasonal allergic rhinitis, but there was a connection between alcohol consumption and perennial allergic rhinitis.

Another study, which was spread over a 9 years period also showed that drinking more than two glasses of wine on a daily basis doubles the risk of developing allergy symptoms in young women.

This could be a possible explanation for the fact that allergies are on the increase over the past ten years. Women discovered alcohol, learned to enjoy it, then enjoyed too much of it, therefore harming their immune system and triggering allergic reactions and manifestations like hay fever, sore eyes, running nose, itching, sneezing or even skin rashes.

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Why Are Allergies Increasing

There is no doubt that allergies are increasing every year, but it also can be the effect of people getting more and more health conscious and presenting to the doctor for even small symptoms.

Scientists don’t know yet why some people are allergic and others don’t. It seems that genetic heritage plays a role in developing allergies, but nothing is certain.

This is established that allergies affect members of the same family, but this had happened all the time, so this cannot be the cause of the increase of allergies we’ve witnessed over the past years.

In their attempt to explain this allergy incidence increase, medical scientists came up with another theory which says that our immune system, due to the fact that it has no more natural enemies like worms or other parasites, tries its powers on common substances, triggering allergic reactions. Our body produces antibodies to fight against natural enemies. Along the centuries of existence, humans with strong immune system survived and passed their genes, detrimental to the ones who had weaker immune system, which were extinguished little by little. Stronger defense mechanisms imply stronger reactions to the environment, so allergic reactions are more likely to occur at more and more people descending from ancestors with strong immune system.

Another issue that was examined, was the exaggerate cleanliness many women are keeping for their children. Some of them are almost obsessed, so the body of their children doesn’t have a chance to form antibodies in early childhood. Those children kept away from dirt and germs are the ones who are most susceptible of developing allergies later in life. Many doctors now advise, based on research that has been done, that a certain level of dirt is actually beneficial for small children. So, maybe mothers shouldn’t be using all those germ-killer products which are heavily advertised nowadays.
Another issue is that now we have access to all types of foods all year round. In my childhood, I could only eat bananas during our winter. They were not available in any other season. This made it less probable that children develop allergies to bananas, because the level of exposure was low. The same applies for tomatoes and apples, which are some of the foods with allergenic potential. If you are predisposed to allergy to them, the more you consume those foods, the more your allergy gets serious, so having them available permanently is certainly not beneficial.

Soy allergy is also increasing. Some years ago, very few people ate soy products, as they were not available on such a large scale like they are today.

Technology is also a menace for health. Only think that is you work in a modern office building, where windows cannot open, and air is circulated through an air conditioning system, you are exposed to all allergens like perfumes, dust or mold from the entire building, which are sucked into the ventilation system and circulated into your office.

Pollution is also a major player in allergies development. Cars are already too many, the petrol-based fuels are highly polluting the air in big cities, so we have no chance of breathing fresh air for the most time of our lives.

Allergy is really a problem getting bigger every day.

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Allergies and sensitivities are more and more widespread, and not only in poor countries, but also in developed ones.

Theories are multiple, like using more additives for foods, more plastic recipients, more food coloring substances. We eat unhealthy things in large quantities and we don’t even know it. How many of you actually read the product labels and refrain from buying if seeing too many chemicals inside? Too few, probably.

Eating the same food for long time leads to an increased sensitivity and makes the body to hyper react, thus triggering allergic response from the immune system.

A food allergy does not come alone. It can bring ailments such as itches, hives, pains, urticaria, eczemas, suffocation, swelling, nausea and many more symptoms which are highly unpleasant and even life-threatening sometimes.

Food sensitivities and allergies exhaust our immune system, as they are challenging it to fight imaginary enemies, thus weakening it and making it to become unprepared when facing real challenges like cancer and other similar diseases.

The fact that we got used to process foods is another factor which adds to allergies increase. Our ancestors were eating much more raw foods than we do, and they surely didn’t use chemicals such as additives or preservatives.

The bad news is that allergies are practically incurable, all existent medication being used only to alleviate symptoms like sneezing, coughing, abnormal mucus secretions, hives, rash or urticaria. Not even the allergy tests can determine all allergens. For example, allergy to medications cannot be tested, because it is far too dangerous and besides, each organism reacts in a particular way to particular substances, so a common pattern hasn’t been established yet.

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An allergy sufferer has an inherited malformation which determines the white blood cells to misidentify harmful substances and overreact to a foreign substance which may be totally harmless to the body. If a person with a nuts allergy eats nuts, the white blood cells mistakenly think that the body is being invaded and produces many times more antibodies than are needed to fight the invaders.

When you think about health and nutrition, it’s important to be aware of how various food stuffs affect your wellbeing.

This is very hard to believe, but most of the foods we consume on daily basis have allergen potential. Cereals and bread contain gluten, which is one of the most widespread allergens, tomatoes contain sodium glutamate, and dairy products are based on lactose, which is known for giving intolerance to a large number of people worldwide.

Allergy is hard to diagnose sometimes, because the symptoms may vary so much that doctors are tempted to run a series of other tests before considering allergy. One of the allergy complications which has to do with hearing, is otitis media, an affection of the middle ear. Otitis media can lead to temporary hearing loss, and if it is not treated, it may lead to definitive hearing loss.

Some of the symptoms are ear suppuration, due to the swelling of the Eustachio tube membrane, which prevents internal ear from being ventilated. It is a painful disease and it affects a lot of children at least once in a lifetime.

This is why parents are responsible to treat ear affections of their children with maximum attention, and go to the doctor at the smallest symptoms. The given treatment, in case of otitis media, should be strictly followed, because if children are small and they are subject to recurrences of this ailment, they may end up by having social troubles and not being able to distinguish and speak words correctly.

Moreover, if otitis media is a cause of an allergy, it is very important that the parent pays attention to preventive measures. Minimize your child’s exposure to the specific allergens, if you want him to grow up healthy and live a normal life.

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How to Arrange Food Allergy Testing

In casee4 you notice symptoms such as skin irritation, hives, rash, swelling, whenever you are eating certain foods, then you should suspect food allergies and ask for investigations. The main way to stay symptom-free is avoidance of the incriminated foods, so the sooner you know which are they, the better.

Food allergy testing

For identifying a food allergy, you need to go for special tests. After you have the list of substances which trigger allergic reactions from your immune system, you need to stay away from them. Repeated exposure to the allergen will only exacerbate your allergy symptoms. Eventually, it may even endanger your life, as death by suffocation is possible, due to the swelling of your airway passages.

Being allergic to certain substances (foods, pollens, dust or anything else) means that your immune system perceives those otherwise harmless substances as a menace to the body, and starts fighting to eliminate them. This body fight consists on releasing chemicals to neutralize the enemies, thus provoking you unpleasant and dangerous symptoms.

Food allergies testing can be done in two ways:

Food Allergies Skin Prick Test

A food allergy skin prick test is based on making a small prick on the skin using a needle and pouring a little amount of the allergen you want to test for. After a half an hour, in case you are allergic, your skin would have reacted and became all red and swollen around the prick. The bigger the reaction, the more severe your allergy to that substance.

If you are not allergic, there would be absolutely no swelling at all. The advantage of the allergy prick test is that you get your results very fast (immediately) and it is not painful.

There are yet some situations when prick tests are dangerous to be performed: if you had a very violent allergic reaction, then putting your body in contact with the allergen may cause you severe symptoms which are not local but generalized, so you may even die from such a test. In order not to threaten your life, you’d better go for the second type of allergy testing:

Food Allergy Blood Test

This test is safe, as it requires you to give a blood sample, which would be taken to the lab and put in contact with the suspected allergens. There, the level of histamines released by your blood would be measured and the values would be compared with the benchmark ones.
The results can take a few weeks until complete, but you’ll receive a long list with foods which you need top avoid in order to improve your life quality and even save yourself from death. Food allergies are not a joke at all.

Categories: Allergy Tips, Allergy general info, Food Allergy
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Have you ever thought that cosmetics can be dangerous, as they hide a potential for developing allergic reactions?
According to The American Academy of Dermatology, Americans use at least seven various cosmetics or cosmetic products every day. Can you imagine starting a day without using an antiperspirant, or toothpaste, shower gel or perfume?

All kind of cosmetic products like soaps, shampoos, perfumes and colognes, deodorants, moisturizers, face creams, hand or nail creams and other cosmetics are considered a necessity today, being a symbol of civilization.

Cosmetics are also part of our lives, as many females use mascaras, lipstick, powder blush or eyelid colors for enhancing their beauty. In order to make the cosmetic and beauty products last longer, producers use preservatives. Fragrances are also used, with the purpose of triggering the purchase.

Fragrances and preservatives in cosmetics are potential allergens, as they may trigger occasional allergic reactions from sensitive persons, or from persons who used them for a long period of time. Cosmetic allergies are not so common, but some studies have shown that about 10% of the USA people is expected to develop a type of cosmetic allergy sooner or later.

Due to the heavier usage habits of cosmetic products, women are more prone to experience cosmetics allergy than men.

Cosmetic allergy symptoms

The symptoms of cosmetic allergy are mainly happening at the skin level. Allergic contact dermatitis and irritant contact dermatitis are the two major ailments which could trigger an alarm signal and send you to have an allergy testing done.

Usually, cosmetics dermatitis shows its symptoms in seconds or minutes after putting the skin in contact with the allergen in the cosmetic product used. In this way, you’ll be able to notice immediately which particular cosmetic product is giving you pains, so you can replace or eliminate it from your daily hygiene.

Cosmetic allergies start with inflammation of the skin which has been exposed to the allergenic substances. Then redness and swelling will occur, and sometimes the subject may experience a persistent itching.

Symptoms for cosmetic allergy will be stronger in case of applying the cosmetic substance on already irritated or scratched skin. Many young girls use face powder to mask their acne, and if the pimples are torn, the skin may suffer an allergic reaction when coming in contact with the make up.

Likewise any other form of allergies, cosmetics allergy is not a disease and it shouldn’t be considered as such. It is just a normal reaction of the immune system to neutralize and reject what it perceives to be harmful for the body.

How to treat cosmetics allergy

You can get skin allergy medication, like ointments and creams from the pharmacy, and usually those products are sold without medical prescription, so you can ask your pharmacist for advice on what product to use for treating your cosmetic allergy.

Most of these medications contain cortisone in the form of hydrocortisone acetate and hydrocortisone. Cortisones help curtail redness, swelling and itching during the onset of cosmetics allergy symptoms.

In case your allergy symptoms are exacerbated, like blisters on the skin surface, you should see a doctor, as you would probably need also some antibiotic treatment to prevent or cure eventual infections at the skin level.

Cosmetics allergy preventive measures

You can take a few measures to keep yourself cosmetic allergy free:

• When you get a new cosmetic products you’ve never used before, consider making a test before applying it in large quantities: take a small amount and put it on your wrist. Then wait for 24 hours: if you experience redness, inflammation or any other kind of symptom, do not use the product, because you may have an allergy to some of its ingredients.
• If you already know that you are allergic to some substances, look at the labels when you buy cometics, in order to avoid getting products which include that specific allergen.
• Do not apply perfume directly on your skin. You can obtain the same effect by putting it on your clothes. Beware though, some perfumes may leave ugly spots on textiles, so you’d better test them on some old shirt before ruining your best ones.

Precautions are never harmful. Why suffer, when it can be easy to avoid getting cosmetics allergy.

Categories: Allergy Tips, Allergy general info, Cosmetic Allergy
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Natural Hay Fever and Allergy Treatments: Nettles

Tip! Treatment starts with managing asthma attacks. To do this, a person needs to stay away from allergens that trigger asthma allergy.

Got hay fever problems? Hay fever, allergies and hives with associated scratchy throats, runny eyes, sneezing and itchy skin, are often overwhelming and annoying at certain times of the year.

The perfect choice of herbs for these symptoms is Nettles (Urtica ioica,) especially when there is itchiness associated with the allergies. American Indians used Stinging Nettles for both rashes and arthritis by hitting the patient with the stalks—ouch! You don’t have to do that—just take it in capsule form. Use a high-quality brand such as Solaray or Nature’s Way. Lower quality brands are often contaminated with disgusting particulate matter or harvested at the wrong time making the herb less effective.

Nettles, also known as a “pot herb,” was one of the first herbs that the early settlers gathered and cooked in the spring. Nettle leaf contains huge amounts of very absorbable vitamins and minerals, especially calcium, which stabilizes cellular membranes so that histamines are not as easily released from the cells. Histamines are the culprit that causes the itchiness.

Tip! For an ingested allergen like an allergy to certain types of food, the best treatment is to avoid the food altogether. Food allergy can cause wheezing, hives, runny nose, swelling of the mouth area and sometimes, difficulty in breathing.

The dose varies by weight. For children who can swallow capsules and are less than 40 pounds give 1 capsule/day and for adults with severe allergies, give five capsules/day. For those who can’t take it in capsule form, take the tincture form or make some nettle leaf tea. All these products are available through your local health food store. Take as needed for three to six weeks. It’s a safe herb and considered a food . . . it’s also very effective.

Just one more safer, effective, alternative treatment to medications you can add to your medicine cabinet this year.

Dr. Denice Moffat is a practicing naturopath, medical intuitive, and veterinarian working on the family unit (which includes humans and animals) through her phone consultation practice established in 1995. She has a content-rich website at http://www.NaturalHealthTechniques.com and free monthly newsletter. For more technqiues you can do at home, go to: http://www.naturalhealthtechniques.com/HealingTechniques/healing_techniques1.htm

Categories: Allergy Tips, Allergy general info, Alternative Treatments, Herbal Remedies
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