Allergy is that condition is which the immune system responds with violence at harmless agents, due to a misinterpretation which triggers the release of a chemical called histamine in the body, and which attacks the body cells, the mastocytes and blastocytes, causing severe symptoms, leading even to life threatening ones, and even to death.

One of the symptoms is asthma, a condition which prevents air to circulate freely in the airways, thus provoking suffocation, if the patient does not take medication such as inhalants or Omazulimab products. This kind of asthma which is caused by allergies has been called allergic asthma, and it is very hard to diagnose if the person in cause does not know she is an allergic. The asthma allergies are causing can start to manifest in late childhood, but this is not the rule. Many patients are diagnosed with allergic asthma when they are at an adult age. This is an excerpt from a prestigious online medical publication, regarding the allergy asthma topic:

Allergic asthma is the most common type of asthma. About 90% of kids with childhood asthma have allergies, compared with about 50% of adults. Inhaling specific substances called allergens (allergy triggers, such as pollen, mites, or molds) brings on the asthma symptoms associated with allergic asthma. Nearly everyone with asthma (allergic or nonallergic) gets worse after exercising in cold air or after inhaling any type of smoke, dust, fumes, and sometimes strong smells.

(Source: WebMD.com)

It is very important that the diagnosis is set correctly from an early stage, when doctors can still do something to alleviate the symptoms, because as time passes, the patient gets more and more sensitized to the respective allergens which trigger that allergic reaction of chocking and suffocation, being possible to leave sequels that can never be cured.

Childhood disease or not, allergic asthma is easier to prevent that to treat.

Categories: Children and Allergy
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Allergy symptoms can vary very much, depending on the patient’s degree of sensitization to the specific allergens, or the the level of exposure. It is well known today, and it has been proved in the scientific world of allergology that an allergic person will become more and more sensitive if he is frequently getting in contact with the substances that trigger his immune system to have an allergic reaction.

The biggest perils are not in the grown-ups world, where people are conscious and don’t make stupid jokes, but in the children’s universe, in kindergardens, schools or playgrounds. A child who has a severe allergy to peanuts, let’s say, will develop a violent allergic reaction even if he is touched with peanut butter on the skin. There’s no need for him to actually swallow the food. In such cases, the simple contact with the peanut butter could trigger a violent reaction, which choking and suffocation due to swelling of the throat and airways walls, death occuring in an interval of minutes, if epinephrine is not administered immediately.

I’ve heard about a situation when a boy who was allergic to peanuts was threatened by his schoolmates that they’d put some on his skin. This is horrible, but diseases like allergy are beyond children’s power of understanding. The shock can be so severe that, even doctors, in controlled environments, don’t have the courage to perform prick tests on patients suspected to have an extremely weak immunity system. Such persons will be tested in other way: they will be taken a blood sample which will get analyzed in the laboratory (the so-called RAST and ELIZA tests). The method doesn’t give the results on the spot like the prick tests, but it is much safer for the patients.

Parents and educators together need to make sure that the youngsters understand that such ailments cannot be a target for jokes and play, because things may end up in a tragic way for all those involved. No matter how light the allergy symptoms may be, avoidance of the contact with the allergen is key to a happy life.

Categories: Children and Allergy
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Avoiding Allergy Medications With Children

Childhood Asthma - Getting Your Child Off Allergy Medications

A child with asthma and allergies may not know that asthma and allergies is the number #1 chronic childhood disease.

He also may not know that asthma claims more lives every year even though more treatments are available. It is a fact that there are over 3 million more Americans with asthma than there were 10 years ago.
Why the rise in asthma and allergies?

With todays busier society, our house-cleaning standard have plummeted. We also have become a generation of ‘couch potatoes’…spending over 95% of our time indoors. Our homes are tightly insulated and limit ventilation of household irritants such as mold, smoke and chemicals.

This all results in increased exposure to allergens. And
allergens are the number one cause of allergy and asthma attacks. Allergy medications are being used on a daily basis as a way to control allergies & asthma. With children prevention of allergies is far better than taking allergy medications.

There are five simple things that can be done to reduce allergy symptoms and possibly reduce the use of allergy medications.

1) Never allow smoking in the home. Smoke will remain in an indoor environment for up to 10 years, even though you can no longer see or smell it.

2) Shoes should be taken off at the door to prevent allergens from being brought in on the shoes.

3) Use non-toxic cleaning products instead of store bought chemical brands. All cleaning products are eventually inhaled or absorbed into the skin. Do you really want to clean with even a ‘little bit’ of poison?

4) Do not let pets into the bedrooms. All pets have dander and it can be an allergen. Children spend around 8 hours in the bedroom at night. Keep it as allergy free as possible.

5) Make sure humidity levels in the home don’t go over 45%. Humidifiers attached to the furnace are more reliable than freestanding ones. Humidifiers with damp filters in them can be a mold breeding area.

It is important to try to create a clean healthy environment for your child so he can breathe easy and not have to rely on allergy medications which can have negative side effects.

Deborah Mumm has been in the Indoor Air industry since 1996. She has written various articles on asthma, allergies

and indoor air pollution plus gives talks to teachers and small groups on the effects of indoor air pollution.
Her web site offers products for a healthy home ~ http://www.healthy-environments.com
She offers an e-book on tips to avoid allergy medications on her site.

Categories: Allergy Tips, Children and Allergy
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