Luca Turin
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 The EU has published a list of twenty-six allergens which it intends to restrict in use. It makes interesting reading. Most of them are high-volume materials: that is to say, things to which a lot of people have been exposed to for a lot of time. That means the allergens list is in part due to a statistical effect: you need a quorum of people with a particular allergy before dermatologists notice it.
Above 'permitted' levels, the fragrance has to be labelled with a symbol that says 'may be bad for you' and the potential allergens listed. |
J. Douglas Bremner
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 Your doctor can identify your triggers by exposing you to a number of potential allergens and then measuring the inflammatory response. Once the plants, foods, molds, chemicals, or animals you are allergic to have been identified, you can avoid them. In addition, your doctor can perform tests to determine how much of the immunoglobulin IgE you have that is specifically oriented to different potential allergens. These tests are low risk and can provide useful information for deciding on treatment and lifestyle changes. |
| Waiting to Inhale: Medications
Treatment for allergic and nonallergic asthma is similar, with the exceptions that removal of allergens is not part of the therapeutic approach toward nonallergic asthma and that antihistamines do not have therapeutic benefit. In addition, individuals with nonallergic asthma may need to take medications more long term, whereas those with allergic asthma may only need treatment when they are exposed to allergens (such as during springtime, when exposure to pollen is unavoidable). |
Gabriel Cousens
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 Soy is also one of the top seven allergens, and is widely known to cause immediate hypersensitivity reactions. While in the last forty years soy has occupied an important place in the transition from an unhealthy meat-based diet to vegetarian and vegan cuisine, it is time for us to upgrade our food choice to one having more benefits, and fewer negative possibilities. In 1986, Stuart Berger, MD, placed soy among the seven top allergens—one of the "sinister seven."21 At the time, most experts listed soy around tenth or eleventh. |
Stacy Malkan
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 Some hidden hazards that may be lurking within synthetic-chemical fragrances include:
• allergens. Fragrances are considered to be among the top five known allergens, and are known to both cause asthma and trigger asthma attacks.14
• Phthalates. Product tests conducted by Consumer Reports in January 2007 found the phthalates DEP and DEHP in all eight of eight perfumes tested.15 The Not Too Pretty report found phthalates in 72% of personal care products, including fragrance-containing shampoos, deodorants and hair gels. None of the products listed phthalates on the label.16
• Sensitizers. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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 The two main types are contact dermatitis, which is aggravated when the skin comes in direct contact with an allergen such as household detergents and chemicals, or even cosmetics; and atopic dermatitis, which is aggravated by ingested or inhaled allergens such as certain foods, pollen, dust, or animal dander.
These external triggers ultimately irritate and strip away the outermost layer of skin—called the stratum corneum—causing moisture to escape. From there, it's a vicious cycle: The moisture escapes, which lets in more allergens, which triggers another drying reaction, and so on. |
Herbert Ross, DC with Keri Brenner, L.Ac.
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 In truth, this test is only useful for identifying allergens that cause immediate reactions, such as pollen or dust, and is less than effective in pinpointing food reactions. Another common test procedure is the RAST (radioallergosorbent test). This blood test is useful for diagnosing allergies to pollens, dust, molds, bee venom, and other allergens.
Do You Suffer from Food Allergies?
The following questionnaire, developed by naturopath Leon Chaitow, ND, DO, of London, England, can help you determine if you have a food allergy. |
Brenda Watson and Leonard Smith
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 This term applies to known allergens. A product that is hypoallergenic may still contain ingredients that irritate you or that have not yet been listed as possible "allergens."
Nontoxic Deodorants and Soaps
The most active ingredient in most deodorants is aluminum chlorohydrate, a known toxin that can be readily absorbed through the skin. There are plenty of alternative products that can naturally deodorize sweat and, coupled with good hygiene, will provide you with more than adequate protection. |
Herbert Ross, DC with Keri Brenner, L.Ac.
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| Eliminate allergens in the home. Dust, mold, or other allergens may cause nasal congestion.
Raise the head of the bed or add pillows. Sleeping with your head raised helps drain congestion and open your airways.
Develop a consistent sleep schedule. Regular sleeping may help keep breathing stable and decrease snoring.
Wash out your sinuses. A process called pulsatile nasal irrigation uses a WaterPik or similar device with a special attachment to clear out thick secretions. Ask your health-care practitioner for more information about this.
Wear a custom dental splint. |
Anne Harrington
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 It must also make its way in a world where asthma is a disease caused by allergens, not anxieties. The website of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency offers a quiz designed, among other things, to disabuse people of various false beliefs about asthma. The first question reads: "True or False?
Asthma is an emotional or psychological illness," to which the correct answer is: "False! Asthma is not an emotional or psychological disease, although strong emotions can sometimes make asthma worse. |
Donna Jackson Nakazawa
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 The second step is to make sure that you are not consuming any potential allergens or foods to which you may be sensitive. For those who are facing severe autoimmune disease, this is best done by going on a complete elimination diet, with the help of your physician. |
| More than half of Americans test positive to one or more allergens, more than double the percentage who did thirty years ago. Go into any elementary school these days and the basket of inhalers and EpiPens— a device for delivering a shot of epinephrine in the event of a severe allergic response—sitting on the teacher's desk makes this all too evident. Ditto asthma, which is often allergy induced. Twenty million Americans now suffer from asthma, and 7 million of these are children. The number of people suffering from asthma in the U.S. increased 74 percent between 1980 and 1996. |
| First-Year College Students Who Feel Lonely Have a Weaker Immune Response to the Flu-Shot," "Asthmatic Responses to allergens Worsen During Stressful Times," "Marital Strain Increases Women's Risk of Death, Heart Disease," and "Arguments Slow the Body's Ability to Heal from Wounds" are all recent newspaper headlines that warn that stressful events can derail the basic function of our immune cells. |
Herbert Ross, DC with Keri Brenner, L.Ac.
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| This blood test is useful for diagnosing allergies to pollens, dust, molds, bee venom, and other allergens.
Do You Suffer from Food Allergies?
The following questionnaire, developed by naturopath Leon Chaitow, ND, DO, of London, England, can help you determine if you have a food allergy. If your answer is no or never to any question, give yourself a score of 0 for that particular question; the other scores are provided with each question.
¦ Do you suffer from unnatural fatigue? (Score 1 if occasionally, 2 if regularly— three times a week or more. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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| From there, it's a vicious cycle: The moisture escapes, which lets in more allergens, which triggers another drying reaction, and so on. The result is what we commonly call eczema. It affects 15 million Americans and nearly 10 percent of all infants and children.
Atopic dermatitis, the kind of eczema we're talking about in this entry, is one of the first signs of allergy during infancy and is believed to be due to delayed development of the immune system. |
Herbert Ross, DC with Keri Brenner, L.Ac.
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| Chronic exposure to allergens can eventually disrupt pancreatic function, leading to ongoing blood sugar imbalances and eventually to diabetes. Given that both Cortisol and hypoglycemia can disrupt sleep, food allergies can potentially play major role in sleep problems. Unfortunately, the connection between sugar disorders (such as hypoglycemia) and food allergies is poorly understood and often overlooked, and thus remains undiagnosed and untreated.
Drugs, Alcohol, and Nicotine
The sleeping process can be significantly disturbed by a variety of over-the-counter and prescription drugs. |
Mehmet C. Oz., M.D. and Michael F. Roizen, M.D.
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 And get a 1-micron cover that blocks allergens from floating from the pillow or mattress to your nose and body.
FACTOIP would keep them alive: hunting, cooking, caring for the tribe. During the day, other parts of the brain—say, the creative parts that would allow cavemen to come up with solutions and ideas for stronger weapons or shelter—didn't get used because the cavemen were so caught up with living and surviving in the moment. |
Dr. Edward F. Group III, DC, ND, DACBN
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| Cleanse your colon regularly to help purge accumulated allergens from your bowels.
For more information, see "Air Purification" and "Pet Dander", in the Resources section.
Colon Toxins from Dust Mites
Did You Know?
Your mattress can host anywhere from 100,000 to 10 million of these parasitic creatures! They can also account for 10% of the total weight of pillows used over six years. These numbers are even more disturbing when you consider that roughly one-third of your life is spent in bed. |
| Many people commonly suffer from outdoor allergens like pollen, cedar, and ragweed. At least as many people are allergic to a range of toxic biological contaminants found indoors as well. Lets take a look at some of the most common indoor organisms and learn how to eliminate them from your environment.
Do You Have Mold and Mildew in Your Home?
Think about the last time you cleaned your bathroom. You probably used a toxic bathroom cleaner to scrub some of that nasty black mold and mildew off the tiles in the shower. |
| Heavily insulated homes harbor more allergens than homes with less insulation.
Playing and crawling on a typical floor exposes babies to contaminants such as mold, mildew, and dust mites. Just one day of exposure introduces the equivalent of four cigarettes into an infant's lungs.59
Indoor air quality is one of the leading environmental health concerns in the United States.60
The amount of colon toxins derived from indoor air is really quite alarming, especially considering how much time most of us spend indoors. These toxins can be chemically based or generated by living organisms (e.g. |
Jeffrey M. Smith
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 Two digestive stability studies on CrylAb, the GE toxin found in Bt corn, by Hubert Noteborn established that: 1) After 30-180 minutes in simulated gastric fluid (SGF), 9-21% of CrylAb remains undigested; 2) After 2 hours in SGF, CrylAb degrades only to fragments of substantial size at the low end of the range considered typical of food allergens (15 kilodaltons); and 3) CrylAb is substantially more resistant to digestion than four other transgenic proteins tested, including one other Cry protein, Cry3A. |
Herbert Ross, DC with Keri Brenner, L.Ac.
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| Dust, mold, or other allergens may cause nasal congestion.
Raise the head of the bed or add pillows. Sleeping with your head raised helps drain congestion and open your airways.
Develop a consistent sleep schedule. Regular sleeping may help keep breathing stable and decrease snoring.
Wash out your sinuses. A process called pulsatile nasal irrigation uses a WaterPik or similar device with a special attachment to clear out thick secretions. Ask your health-care practitioner for more information about this.
Wear a custom dental splint. |
Dr Ron Roberts
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 Most asthmatics have a poor medical history and their usually depleted immune system lowers their resistance to diseases in general, and makes them more susceptible to invasions from allergens. Add to this scenario poor diet, hormonal imbalance and stress, and you may find trying to conquer ill health becomes a constant battle. All the stress of fighting asthma can increase the frequency and severity of allergic reactions.
Every asthmatic has individual triggers which they need to clearly identify so they can be eliminated, treated or just avoided. |
J. Douglas Bremner
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| IgE sitting on the surface of the airways binds allergens and causes mast cells and basophils to release inflammatory factors, which cause the airways to constrict. (IgE in the nose and mouth causes hay fever, and IgE on the skin causes eczema.) Symptoms include coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath or rapid breathing, and chest tightness. |
| In addition, individuals with nonallergic asthma may need to take medications more long term, whereas those with allergic asthma may only need treatment when they are exposed to allergens (such as during springtime, when exposure to pollen is unavoidable).
ALLERGIC ASTHMA TREATMENTS
A number of products that block the histamine receptor (antihistamines) have been developed to treat the allergies that trigger attacks in those suffering from allergic asthma attacks. These include hydroxyzine (Atarax, Vistaril) and its breakdown product cetirizine (Zyrtec). These medications cause sleepiness. |
| Nonallergic asthma is triggered by factors not related to allergens, such as upper respiratory infections, anxiety, stress, exercise, cold or dry air, hyperventilation, smoke, viruses, medications [aspirin, NSAIDs (see Chapter 2), beta-blockers, and ACE inhibitors (see Chapter 5)], sulfites found in red wine, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Like allergic asthma, nonallergic asthma is characterized by airway obstruction and inflammation that can also be treated and partially reversed with medications similar to those used for allergic asthma. |
| In addition, your doctor can perform tests to determine how much of the immunoglobulin IgE you have that is specifically oriented to different potential allergens. These tests are low risk and can provide useful information for deciding on treatment and lifestyle changes.
A number of studies have shown a relationship between psychological stress and asthma. Using relaxation techniques like deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and meditation can be useful in preventing asthma attacks. Still, for many individuals with chronic asthma, medication is a requirement. |
Dr Ron Roberts
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| Asthma is often triggered by allergens in the environment, for instance, and there is much that can be done by careful planning around the home to reduce the incidence and severity of attacks. Equally important is encouraging your child to practise techniques and exercises that will improve the condition. Finally, parents may like to introduce their children to some alternative therapies to see if they respond; we have indicated in Part Two of this book if any therapy is not suitable for children.
Will My Child Develop Asthma? |
| Going on holidays or changing your habits temporarily can bring you in contact with allergens, or just create stress, and may precipitate an attack requiring treatment. When asthma medication is inhaled it travels straight to the irritated air passages and eases the distress.
However, the principles and techniques suggested in Part Two of this book are designed to do what medication does in preventing asthma or relieving a mild attack.
That does not mean an asthmatic should not take prescribed medication. |
Andreas Moritz
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 In the latter case, the body may become oversensitive to all sorts of allergens, including the potassium in orange juice.
In asthmatics, the exaggerated release of histamine promotes bronchial constriction. Once their dehydrated bodies receive their normal daily amount of water", and existing toxins, including those
To stop the body's histamine response to dehydration, which constricts blood flow and reduce your need for water, all you may need is water. So the next time you have an asthma attack, instead of drugs, try drinking 2 or 3 glasses of water. |
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