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Living with Allergies & Asthma

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Food Allergies Increasing at a Dramatic Pace

April 11th 2008 04:28

Here's an alarming fact: Food allergies affect an average of 10 children in every elementary school in the United States. I'm not a food allergy expert (yet)

, but I don't think the numbers are that high for any other disease among school-going children. What makes matters worse is that current food allergy research is inadequately under funded.

There has been much speculation flying around about why the sudden increase in numbers. After doing some research, these are the top three that made a considerable amount of sense to me.

1- Americans live in better-insulated homes and use more antibiotic soaps and household cleaners. This can create environments where immune systems are overly sensitive to harmless substances.

The immune system has two sides that keep a balance with each other. One side fights bacteria and the other side fights parasites. But with better medicine and more technology, the part of the immune system that looks for bacteria has little to do, and the side that fights parasites becomes more active. With no parasites to fight, this part of the immune system can make the allergic attack on allergens from foods, pollens, animal danders and other normally harmless substances.

2- Children are being exposed to some foods too soon in life when their immune systems are still developing. This could also be happening through allergens exposed to an infant through breast milk. A note to be made considering that breast-milk is highly encouraged in the attempt to especially avoid triggering allergic reactions. Hmm...something to reconsider perhaps? I nursed my daughter until she was 14 months. She was already having reactions to the dairy and eggs that I was consuming much earlier than the day we discovered her allergies. We know this because she always had very red and chappy cheeks. At the time we thought it was normal for babies to be rosy-cheeked...apparently not for our baby.

3- Children are developing more allergies at younger ages through immune deregulation from things that aren't food and shouldn't be in food. While there are an insufficient number of proven theories on the subject, perhaps MSG and other food additives are increasing reactions to food antigens like peanuts, and creating more severe reactions and at younger ages.

The rise in numbers is not only prominent in children, but also in woman. Here's an interesting news clip from MSNBC Today's Health.

I'll leave it at that. It just seems too complicated (and frustrating as a food allergy parent) to delve into it any further.

Kay

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Posted By: Kay Dhillon - Category: No Category

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Breath Easy...Yoga Cures the Incurable

April 10th 2008 18:26

Although the only thing that prevents my asthma & allergy prone 4 year old daughter from major asthma attacks are Pulmicort Respules, a medicine she inhales through a nebulizer almost daily (a real life saver for us), she's got a few more years before she can practice Yoga as a preventative measure.

A few days ago I received a link on how a guy controlled his asthma by going to africa and intentionally getting a hookworm!
Thanks Cibbuano! It was very interesting. Another, mentions people intentionally getting stung by bee's (otherwise known as Apitherapy) to relieve symptoms of MS, arthritis, and other diseases.

These methods seemed a bit extreme, but I suppose for those who's lives are disruptively, or even worse, chronically affected by these problems...these methods of treatment may be the only hope for some comfort and chance to live a normal (or as close to normal) life for these people. I wonder how affective these methods really are?

For those who are desperate to feel some relief...here is a much simpler method. Its called Pranayam. Pranayam is the breathing process or the control of the motion of inhalation, exhalation and the retention of vital energy.

It has recently attracted a lot of attention worldwide thanks to the instruction provided by Swami (or Baba) Ramdev Ji, a man who has attained somewhat of a celebrity status in India and the world of aruved (an ancient system of health care that is native to the Indian subcontinent) and yoga for his simple, clear and laymans teachings of Pranayam.

He is the first, in the history of world health, to use freely available Pran (Oxygen) as a medicine, and in turn, remains successful in treating thousands of grief stricken persons suffering from lethal diseases like Diabetes, H.B.P., Angina, Blockages in Arteries, Obesity, Asthma, Bronchitis, Leucoderma, Depression, Parkinson, Insomnia, - Migraine, Thyroid, Arthritis, Cervical Spondalities, Hepatitis, Chronic Renal Failure, Cancer, Cirrhosis of Liver, Gas, Constipation, Acidity etc. which are still a challenge in modern medical science.

I've personally tried and tested some of these very simple exercises. When I say "tried and tested", I mean that I've tried a few of his techniques very sparingly over the course of two weeks. I discovered (to my amazement) that I actually noticed a difference in my alertness and ability to focus, and wasn't out of breath as easily. I felt more in control, and definitely not as lethargic and lazy as I normally would. Other members of my family who moderately practice Pranayam Yoga methods also found that significant differences are made in their day-to-day well-being and coping with problems such as poor memory, diabetes, upset stomachs, acid reflux, migraines, depression...

So I wonder what the results could be if Ramdev's yogic methods are practiced as prescribed?? The suggested methods are all within doable and easily achievable limits for anybody willing to devote a minimum of 5-10 minutes of their day.

Below are a few methods of yoga breathing exercises that have been widely practiced in India for the past thousands of years to cure these same ailments plus many many more. Don't worry they're in English -- each method is for the treatment of various different problems/diseases, without the extreme factor!!

Try out Swami Ramdev's methods for yourself and be the judge. It’s worth a shot! After all, the only thing you jeopardize is a couple minutes of your day and a little extra effort spent inhaling/exhaling...not a bad gamble compared to hookworms and bee stings if you ask me.

PRANAYAMA

ANULOMA-VILOMA – part I

ANULOM-VILOMA – part II

KAPALVATI PRANAYAMA – part I

KAPALVATI PRANAYAMA – part II

BAHYA PRANAYAMA AND AGNISAR KRIYA

Kay

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Why Can't They Find a Cure??

April 8th 2008 01:48

It would seem that coming up with a cure for food allergies would have happened by now. But why hasn't it? That's the million dollar question...at least for those of us who are directly affected by it. Here's a link that may answer some of your questions on Speeding the Pace of Research Seeking Cures for Food Allergy and Other Allergic Diseases.

First of all, to understand the cure you must understand why a reaction occurs in the first place. People who are "allergic" to certain foods are simply more sensitive to the allergens found in these foods. Allergic reactions to food result from the actions of a specific groups of proteins called antibodies. Antibodies, an important part of the body's defense system, are activated when the offending food is eaten. Their role is to recognize foreign invaders (antigens)—in this case, allergens—and to get rid of them.

Certain types of antibodies, known as IgE, are more highly reactive, and perhaps more abundant, in people with food hypersensitivity.

When IgE antibodies encounter a food allergen to which they are sensitized, they attach themselves onto the food proteins. This attachment causes the immune system to release mediators—chemical messengers that travel through the bloodstream to alert other organs to the presence of an unwelcome protein guest.

To give you more of a "timeframe", as per say, cures for a wide range of food allergies are less than a decade away, scientists say.

What are they working on? Well, in short, by modifying the proteins in foods that cause the allergic reactions, researchers have created treatments that can safely desensitize the body's immune system to allergic triggers.

Another method being tested is a long-term treatment available for IgE-related allergies, it's a technique called allergen-specific immunotherapy. This involves injecting a patient with the allergen they react to, in a bid to desensitize their immune system. But it is expensive and slow - treatment can often involve regular injections for up to five years.
There is also a safety issue - the treatment cannot be used against food allergies because it almost always induces a severe reaction, requiring a dose of emergency medicine after each injection.

So what does it all amount to? While scientists have a basic understanding of how allergies work, they can still be stumped by the immune system, which is too complex to submit easily to their control. Hence the painful delay for us desperate parents.

I know I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hope that they come out with a cure FAST! Because every time I see my daughters skin become red and blotchy after someone who's had something as simple as tea with even a drop of milk in it, kisses her little cheek, it saddens me, and it just goes to show that she's nowhere near outgrowing the allergies even 4 years from the day we first discovered them

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Discovering Food Allergies

April 4th 2008 19:12

The first moments right after me and my husband found out that our (at the time) almost 6 month old daughter has severe allergies to dairy and eggs, we immediately traced our steps and began to blame ourselves. Should we have waited longer before introducing new foods to her? In our case it was baby cereal. Did I drink too much milk and have too many eggs during my pregnancy? Was it because both my husband and I have seasonal allergies, and me with my countless allergies to dust, dogs, cats, horses, perfume, mildew, mold...and the list goes on...are food allergies genetic?
Whatever the reason behind this new problem we now faced with food allergies, we had to prepare for a complete lifestyle change. We went from being worry-free --may I also add ignorant-- eaters to being completely paranoid, label-reading, watching-every-morsel-of-food -that-went-into-our-kids-mout hs, asking-too-many-questions type of parents. But alas 3 1/2 years later, we have finally 'somewhat' mastered the art of living with a food allergy child. It wasn't an easy journey getting here; there were the numerous scares after accidental exposures to the allergens and ending up in ER. There's the asthma which is almost inevitable when your child has severe food allergies. Then there's the tough task of figuring out what to feed our child to ensure that she was nutritionally getting what she needed. And lastly, where do we find it? There's the feeling of isolation and frustration at times when you're at the grocery store and everything you pick up has some allergen or another in it...and when you've already got a fussy eater on your hands, you better be prepared to be really committed. Thank God for specialty grocery stores and websites catering to the needs of people with limited diets. We still have a long way to go, we just had her tested again and her numbers were no better than they were the dreaded day we discovered the allergies.
There is hope, if you're reading my blog because you've just discovered your child, or someone you love has food allergies, then you're not alone. I hope the information you find in my blogs will be of help to you, and I welcome any questions and advice. There are parents out there who know far more than I do about Food Allergies, so if you're one of them, please pass on your wisdom

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