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Allergies Food, Pet, Mold, Airborne, Etc.

 

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The 8 Most Common Allergies
by: Anne Wolski

It seems that almost everyone we meet suffers from an allergy of some kind or knows of someone who does…perhaps it is because of the amount of chemicals we use in this modern era…perhaps it is that modern conveniences such as air conditioning or fans can more efficiently distribute the harmful allergens throughout our society.

It is possible for almost anything to cause an allergic reaction but there are some allergies that are more common than others. These are explained in more detail below.

1. Asthma

Asthma is a serious respiratory disease. This allergic inflammation of the lungs is characterized by wheezing, coughing and tightness around the chest, making it difficult to breathe. It can be brought about through environmental allergens, dust mites, pollen, animal dander, smoke and other pollutants.

2. Allergic Rhinitis (hay fever)

Like asthma, allergic rhinitis or hay fever is caused by airborne allergens such as dust or pollen. It is characterized by watery, itchy eyes and a runny nose. It also causes bouts of sneezing and coughing. This is caused by the person breathing in floating pollen which then sticks to the mucous membranes of the throat and nose. They can also land on the sensitive covering of the eyes.

3. Perennial Rhinitis (dust mite allergy)

Perennial rhinitis is a condition which affects the sufferer all of the time. It is usually caused by the microscopic droppings of the house dust mite which is breathed in, affecting the air spaces in the nose, thus producing excess mucous. It can also be caused by animal fur.

4. Eczema and Dermatitis

With skin allergies such as eczema and dermatitis, the skin becomes red and itchy and can sometimes become ‘weepy’. Any part of the body can be affected. The cause of this type of allergy varies from dust to pollen to chemicals. It can also be triggered by heat, cold, humidity and bright sunlight.

5. Urticaria and Hives

Urticaria presents itself as raised lumps or as white patches with reddened skin surrounding them. They are extremely itchy and can come and go from all areas of the body. In most cases, urticaria will subside after a few hours but it can last for several days, causing extreme distress to the sufferer. This type of allergy is typically from a chemical substance such as cleaning products, hair dyes, and other chemical matter.

6. Food Allergies

A large number of people are allergic to certain foods, bringing on bouts of stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea, wheezing, stuffy nose, and a rash. The foods responsible are mainly berries, shellfish, eggs, nuts, milk, corn, beans or wheat. For people who suffer food allergies, it is necessary to avoid not only these specific foods, but any other product made with these ingredients.

7. Poison or Venom Allergies (such as wasp or bee stings)

The allergic reaction to venom of insects usually presents itself in the form of hives or urticaria, tightness in the throat and chest, and itchy eyes. The person who suffers this type of allergy experiences more pain from a sting than someone without an allergy. Other creatures that can cause an allergy include ants, mosquitoes, jellyfish and scorpions.

8. Allergies to Drugs or Medications

Penicillin and Aspirin are the most common drugs to which some people have an allergic reaction and this generally causes a rash or hives.

In most cases, an allergic reaction is uncomfortable and can indeed be quite stressful. It is usually not fatal and will generally respond favourably to a treatment of antihistamines, corticosteroids or inhalants.

However, in some cases, the reaction is so severe, it can lead to a potentially life-threatening condition called anaphylactic shock. This is a condition in which a person is exposed to something to which he is extremely hypersensitive. This results in a release of histamine into the body tissues, sending the individual into anaphylactic shock.

Its onset is immediate and the symptoms include severe difficulty in breathing, swelling, a drop in blood pressure, and heart failure. The result will be fatal if the person is not treated urgently by the injection of adrenaline.

If the person has severe reactions, it is essential that they wear a medic alert bracelet so that those treating him are aware of the situation and can respond accordingly.

Most allergies can be controlled by avoiding the allergen if known. However, in some cases, it is unknown and this can be difficult. This can be overcome by always carrying antihistamines with you in case you have an allergic reaction to something.

If you manage your allergies sensibly, your discomfort should be minimized and you should be able to live a full and active lifestyle.

Copyright 2006 Anne Wolski

About The AuthorAnne Wolski has worked in the health and welfare industry for over 30 years and is also co director of http://www.magnetic-health-online.com which is a health information portal of many interesting articles by people in the medical industry, as well as http://www.pharmacybyweb.com which has online physicians who can answer your medical questions.

Now You Can Control Your Allergies
by: Juliette Pickup

Allergies of various types make millions of people’s lives miserable everyday and the allergies control at least some aspects of the sufferer’s lives. This is unnecessary since measures can be taken to keep your allergies under control. There are different types of allergies, determined by what causes the allergy. The most well known allergies are dust mite allergy, mold allergy, hay fever or pollen allergy and pet allergy.

Each of these different types of allergies creates a different reaction within the sufferer and has different sources, but allergy control measures can be applied to all of them. There are a variety of measures that you can put into effect, but they are intended to be back up measures for the allergy control products that it is advised you buy. There is a very large selection of products available currently. These products will help to reduce the allergic reactions of the sufferer by a large margin.

When focusing on the bedroom, there are eight main product types which are manufactured to decrease the effects of allergies. The bedroom should be the first area to be re-equipped since it is in there that the allergy sufferer spends a large portion of their time and it should be a refuge from the effects of allergies as opposed to aggravating the suffering. The different types of products are roughly divided into two groups, bedding products and air products.

In the group of bedding products there are the categories comforters, pillows and mattress pads. Comforters come in a variety of types and a variety of fills including down and a fiber fill. Most people with an allergy problem would automatically avoid down, but it is warmer than a fiber filled comforter, but you need to ensure that the comforter is hypoallergenic. People believe they are allergic to feathers, but they are in fact allergic to the dust and protein that attaches itself to the feather so if the down has been properly cleaned then it is not a problem. Fiber filled comforters are preferred by those in warm climates or during summer.

There are is a wide range of choices for people who would like a hypoallergenic pillow , whether it is foam, natural or synthetic. This choice is dependent on what you require from your pillow and your level of allergy. Mattress pads were the greatest thing ever invented by the bedding industry for an increase in comfort and support. Some of mattresses are created for hygiene, some are created for softness and some mattress pads are for back and joint support, but for allergy sufferers the important factor is whether they are hypoallergenic. The feather beds provided by Pacific coast are created to be an allergy control product. They come in every size to suit you and they are incredibly comfortable.

In the group of air products there are Air Purifiers, Dehumidifiers, Humidifiers, Steam Cleaners and Vacuum cleaners. These products all cater for different needs and different types of allergies. A dehumidifier would be the best option for a person suffering from a mold allergy, but a humidifier would be beneficial to a person with sinus troubles as a result of their allergies.

Dehumidifiers and humidifiers perform opposite functions, but they still perform well as allergy control products. Dehumidifiers lower the humidity level of the area around it in order to inhibit the occurrence of mildew, mold and damp. They are essential for any allergy sufferer who wishes to stop mold spores from growing within their house or in the basement and also wishes to keep the level of humidity low enough to ensure that dust mites are kept at bay.

Humidifiers come in two types, warm mist or cool mist humidifiers. These will both keep the air around them hydrated to a comfortable level to ensure that your allergies are not exacerbated. Warm mist humidifiers are more useful in cooler climates while cool mist humidifiers are better used in a warmer environment. The determining factors are ease of cleaning and noise levels.

Air Purifiers are very important allergy control products. They should be used in with either a humidifier or dehumidifier in order to get the best from them. A good quality HEPA air filtration device is an indispensable element to ensuring that an allergen free and healthy home is maintained. Air filters literally filter out harmful pollen and particles that will cause an allergic reaction in you. In order to ensure that you can select a high quality product we have circumspectly chosen the finest air purifiers to present for you to select from out of the numerous products we have tested.

Steam Cleaners often look like a vacuum cleaner but that is where the similarity ends. The use of a steam cleaner ensures that you can sanitize, deep clean and deodorize in one simple procedure without using any of the chemicals that can be found in supermarket cleaning equipment. For allergy sufferers, there is the built in benefit that the heat of the steam penetrates deep down into any material being cleaned and therefore the dry steam instantaneously kills any and all dust mites, viruses, molds, and fungi that may be there.

A HEPA vacuum cleaner is a highly effective allergy control product that will suck up all the allergens and dust which have become settled onto furniture floors and carpets. These settled allergens are the ones which keep getting stirred up and therefore consequently inhaled by people due to movement within a room.

One allergy control product will help you to lower the allergen level in the area of your bedroom, but it is recommended that you utilize a combination of products in order to bring the allergen level to it’s lowest possible point and therefore bring your allergic reactions to an absolute minimum.

About The AuthorAll allergy control information has been researched and written by Juliette Pickup.http://www.allergiesplus.com

Learning About Food Allergies
by: Gray Rollins

Food allergies affect approximately 4 million Americans with symptoms that can include difficulty breathing, an outbreak of hives, asthma, vomiting, and even death. Oftentimes food allergies are confused with an inability to tolerate certain foods. Food intolerance usually brings about an entirely different set of symptoms including a bloated feeling, gas, or other similar type of discomfort.

Food Allergies or Food Intolerance

An easy way to distinguish food allergies from food intolerances is to understand that an allergic reaction actually originates in a person’s immune system. A severe allergic reaction can result in suffocation when the throat or the tongue swells so much that a person cannot breathe. Given the fact that approximately 150 people in the United States die each year from food allergies, this condition is no laughing matter.

Individuals with known food allergies usually inherit this condition from another member of the family. When food allergy patients are studied, it is common to see that conditions such as eczema, hay fever, and asthma affect other family members. http://www.withallergies.com/helpwithallergies/

Foods That Cause Allergies

A few different kinds of foods seem to trigger the most allergic reactions. And it seems that adults and children each have a different set of foods that cause problems. The majority of food allergy cases in children involve peanuts, milk, eggs, soy and wheat. In adults, the foods most involved with allergies include shellfish (such as shrimp, crab and lobster), peanuts, walnuts, eggs, other fish and nuts that grow in trees.

Food allergies are so serious in some people that even smelling the food can trigger an allergic reaction. However, food allergies mostly become an issue after a person has eaten a food to which he or she is allergic. Symptoms can begin right at the point of entry with lips that begin to tingle or a tongue that begins to itch. Gastrointestinal trouble follows with cramping, or the need to vomit, or the development of diarrhea. As the troublesome food breaks down and enters the bloodstream, it travels towards the lungs and at that point conditions such as asthma, eczema, shortness of breath, or low blood pressure can all develop.

Dealing with Food Allergies

To protect themselves, people with known allergies to food simply have to avoid coming into contact with these foods. That sounds easy enough, however the reality is that it is not always possible to avoid the foods that cause problems. Processed foods can contain so many ingredients that sometimes the food culprit is buried deep in the fine print. Legislation aimed at improving food labeling as it pertains to food allergies has recently been enacted and hopefully these new labeling requirements will better protect those with food allergies.

Keeping children away from food allergens is difficult unless a parent is vigilant about what goes into the child’s mouth. Parents of children with food allergies must inform everyone from school officials to neighbors about the child’s food allergies and even then, accidents happen. Fortunately for children with food allergies, most will outgrow this condition.

About The AuthorGray Rollins is a featured writer for http://www.withallergies.com. For more information about food allergies, please visit http://www.withallergies.com/a/.

The Maharishi Ayurveda Approach to Allergies with Nancy Lonsdorf M.D.
by: Nancy Lonsdorf M.D.

Allergies: The Ayurvedic Answer

In a healthy body, the allergic response serves to protect against invasion by harmful agents. Secretions and inflammation help our immune cells get into the affected tissue, dilute the toxic agent and help wash it away. “Allergies” become a health problem when an excessive and unwanted allergic response occurs to particles that are part of our normal environment and are not actually dangerous to the body.

Some individuals are born with allergies, and have a genetic susceptibility to them. However, most allergies are acquired after birth. While inborn allergies can often be helped by the measures discussed in this article, acquired allergies are generally more responsive to such behavioral approaches, and are the main focus of this article.

The Main Cause of Allergies

Although pollen, dust, dander, trees and other allergens are the trigger for allergies in susceptible people, they are not the underlying cause. Many people are exposed to these substances every day without developing allergic reactions. Rather, it is the inner condition of the body that determines whether an allergic response results from exposure to an allergen.

According to Maharishi Ayurveda, allergies result when the body has accumulated excess wastes, toxins and impurities. How does this happen? According to Ayurvedic theory, improperly digested foods (called ama), and impurities, such as chemical additives, are absorbed into the body, travel through the circulation and lodge in the respiratory tissues, skin and other tissues prone to allergy. These accumulated wastes and toxins block the channels, trapping the toxins inside the tissues, and activating the immune system. When additional allergens such as pollen or dust arrive on the scene, the already irritated immune system goes into “high gear,” creating the symptoms of an allergy attack.

Symptoms will vary depending on the tissue that has accumulated the toxic waste (ama visha.). If the tissue involved is the digestive tract, diarrhea can result. If in the skin, a rash or hives may occur. And if the respiratory tract is involved, sneezing, inflammation and mucous drainage will occur.

Since the source of allergies lies with our diet and digestion, adopting a proper diet and improving digestion are “job one” in the fight against allergies. Next, it is valuable to use internal cleansing regimens to reduce the clogging and accumulated impurities.

Recommended Diet for Allergies

The main dietary and eating guidelines for allergies are as follows.

1. Eat the largest meal of the day at lunch, between 12:00 and 1:00 PM, when your digestion is strongest. The sun– the heat element in nature– enlivens agni, the fire of digestion and metabolism, making our digestion strongest at the height of the day. Ayurveda recommends eating the largest meal when you are most capable of digesting it.

2. Avoid eating heavy meals in the evening. The single biggest contribution to toxins and clogging in the body comes from eating heavy evening meals, particularly after 7 PM. Since digestion is much weaker in the evening, it is vital to eat lighter, more easily digested meals at that time. Eat a warm, freshly cooked vegetarian evening meal without fried foods, desserts, cheese, yogurt or other curdled products, since these are heavy for digestion and cause more blockage, congestion and mucous.

3. Eat warm food. Warm food is much easier to digest than cold food. Ayurveda recommends we eat fresh warm food, freshly prepared. Avoid micro-waving, which has been shown to destroy over 90% of the protective antioxidants in the food. Also, avoid cold drinks, ice cream, frozen yogurt and other cold foods.

4. Avoid leftovers. Once food has been heated and then gets put back in the refrigerator it becomes hard to digest and very clogging in nature.

5. Avoid excessively hot spices, sour and acidic foods. These foods are irritating to the body and promote inflammation, according to Ayurveda. Many people experience their allergies become worse when they eat foods with chilis, tomato sauces, hard or aged cheeses, refined sugar and sweets, and acidic foods. Bell pepper, eggplant and potato should also be avoided due to their channel-clogging effects.

6. Do include detoxifying spices in your daily diet. Turmeric in particular has anti-allergy, immune-balancing effects. Coriander helps to detoxify on a cellular level; fennel cools and balances; ginger helps the digestion and dissolves ama, and black pepper clears the channels and increases bioavailability of nutrients. Make a spice mixture of 6 parts fennel, cumin and coriander, 4 parts turmeric and 1 part each of ginger and black pepper. Freshly grind the spices, sauté them in a pan without oil until lightly browned, and put in a small airtight container. Carry them with you and sprinkle _ to 1 tsp. on your food at each meal, and cook with them when at home.

7. Do sip boiled warm or hot water about every half hour during the day around the change of seasons, to help your body purify and to support good digestion.

Behavioral Approaches to Reducing Allergies

Diet is not the only consideration in allergies. Ayurvedic theory also recommends the following behavioral changes to help tone down the allergic response.

1. Go to bed by 10:00 P.M. Between 10 PM and 2 AM, the body performs a natural cycle of internal cleansing. If we stay up after 10 PM, we interfere with this metabolic “house cleaning” and toxins and impurities begin to accumulate. Worse yet, the metabolic activity of cleansing tends to trigger hunger, and we may be tempted to indulge in the proverbial “midnight snack.” Unfortunately, eating after 10 PM further compromises the cleansing process and leads to even more waste accumulation, and more allergy tendency. On the other hand, going to bed by 10 PM improves the overall rejuvenative quality of sleep. You will find that your early bedtime habit helps not only your allergies, but your energy and complexion as well!

2. Cleanse the body before the allergy season. The traditional Ayurvedic answer to allergies includes purifying the body of ama and toxins before allergy season begins to prevent symptoms from arising at all. This internal cleansing may be done at home or, more thoroughly, through in-residence cleansing treatments called panchakarma or Maharishi Rejuvenation Therapy.

3. Have a regular routine of life. Eating, sleeping, working and exercising at about the same time each day is very balancing and stabilizing to the immune system and to the body as a whole. Allergies tend to be aggravated when routine of life is hectic and scattered.

4. Practice Yoga asanas and meditation. Yogas asanas and meditation are very balancing to all aspects of mind and body and have been used by many people to reduce allergy symptoms. For meditation, I suggest the TM technique because of its ease of practice and scientific verification.

Summary

The best approach to allergies is to focus on good eating habits, practice stress reduction and do natural cleansing before the allergy season.

Note: This article is for educational purposes only and is not meant to diagnose or treat disease. Please consult your physician regarding any symptoms you have or before you make changes in lifestyle and diet.

Statements in this article have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended for the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of disease.

About The AuthorNancy Lonsdorf M.D. received her M.D. from Johns Hopkins and did her postgraduate training at Stanford. She has studied Ayurveda with some of the world’s most renowned Ayurvedic physicians in India, Europe and the U.S. Dr. Lonsdorf has 18 years of clinical experience with Ayurveda and is currently the Medical Director of The Raj Ayurveda Health Center in Vedic City Iowa.Dr. Lonsdorf has authored two books on Ayurveda and women’s health: 1. A Woman’s Best Medicine (Penguin/Putnam 1995 ; ISBN 0-87477-785-2) describing the Ayurvedic approach to the major issues in women’s health 2. The Ageless Woman: Health and Beauty after Forty with Maharishi Ayurveda (MCD Century Publications 2004 ISBN#: 0-9721233-5-0) on anti-aging recommendations and longevity for women.Doctor Lonsdorf’s contact information is: Nancy Lonsdorf M.D. 1734 Jasmine Avenue Vedic City, IA 52556 641-472-8246 web site url: http://www.ayurveda-ayurvedic.com/ e-mail address: info@ayurveda-ayurvedic.com Dr. Lonsdorf photo for web at: http://www.ayurveda-ayurvedic.com/images/ayurveda%20physician.jpg