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ADHD and Food Allergies

 


 

  Anthony Kane, MD

Introduction

There are a number of controversial areas in medicine when it comes to
ADHD. Food allergy is certainly one of them.

The classic allergic reaction, which is classified as the type-1
hypersensitivity reaction, can be elicited by food, but this is fairly
uncommon. When we discuss food sensitivities in ADHD we are discussing a
different, not well-defined, mechanism.

One of the main progenitors of the food allergy/ADHD connection is Dr.
Doris Rapp. Dr. Rapp was a pediatric allergist who noticed that many
children in her practice had significant physical and behavioral changes
when exposed to certain foods. They may have red ear lobes, dark circles
under their eyes, or glazed eyes after eating certain foods. These
children could have tremendous swings in behavior. They can be calm one
minute and wildly hyperactive a few minutes later.

To make it more interesting, children with food allergies usually crave
the food that affects them negatively. That means a child who is allergic
to peanuts will demand peanut butter and jelly for lunch everyday, and
for the rest of the afternoon you have to peel him off of the ceiling.

What is Food Allergy?

The classic allergic reaction operates through a very specific mechanism.
The reaction is caused when a specific type of antibody, called IgE,
reacts with a specific provoking substance called an allergen. The result
of this interaction is an allergic response and the person is deemed
allergic to that allergen.

The specific type of antibody involved in classic allergy is called IgE.
The proposed antibody mechanism for this type of food allergy does not
involve IgE, but a different antibody called IgG. This is significant
because standard allergy testing tests only for IgE antibodies. If your
child has IgG mediated sensitivity, his allergy test is going to miss it.
That means that your child may have a severe allergy to a specific food,
but your allergist will tell you he is not allergic to it.

Why the Controversy?

Reason 1: Diagnosis

I said this was a very controversial area of medicine and here is one of
the reasons why. Food allergies are very difficult to diagnose. One
reason is that the symptoms wax and wane. When a child has a classic
allergy, for example to bee stings, then every time a bee stings him, he
will have a reaction. Food allergies don’t work that way. There seems to
be a threshold that must be exceeded before there are any symptoms. In
addition, this threshold seems to vary from day to day. On some days a
food will affect the child, and on other days it won’t. Dr. Rapp explains
this phenomenon using the analogy of a barrel.

We can view each allergic child as if he has a barrel. As long as the
barrel is empty or only partially full, your child will have no problems.
Your child won’t become hyperactive until his barrel is overflowing.

Various things will fill your child’s barrel. Let’s say your child is
sensitive to chocolate, cats, and peanut butter. Each of these things all
can partially fill his barrel. As long as he only has peanut butter or
only plays with the cat, his barrel is only partially full. That means
that there are no symptoms and that his behavior is fine. Then, one day
he has a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, has chocolate ice cream for
dessert and plays with the cat all afternoon. These things in combination
make his barrel overflow, and by evening he is out of control. Your child
has food allergies, but sometimes they affect him and sometimes they
don’t.

The barrel can change sizes. If your child has a cold or is upset his
barrel gets smaller. It takes less to make it overflow. If he is happy
his barrel is bigger. It takes more to make it overflow. If he isn’t
eating well and that day he is low on certain nutrients his barrel gets
smaller.

Many traditional allergists find this barrel concept ludicrous. It
doesn’t fit into the pattern of how other allergies work.

Reason 2: Method of Diagnosis

The next problem is the way in which you test for food allergies. Dr.
Rapp describes a technique called provocation-neutralization testing.
This method works as follows: Say that a child frequently has headaches
after eating eggs. The practitioner will give an intradermal injection of
egg extract. If this elicits the child’s headache, then the child tests
positive for egg allergy. Other signs of a positive test include an
increase in pulse rate of 20 points, a large skin reaction (this
indicates a classic IgE reaction), a change in the child’s handwriting,
or some other physical or emotional complaint. This last criterion “some
other physical or emotional complaint” is problematic. It is too vague.
The result is that when studies compared how several physicians evaluated
the same group of patients, their results didn’t agree. For each patient
if there were twenty different doctors with twenty different sets of
findings. None of their diagnoses matched.

Reason 3: The Mechanism

As I mentioned before, the proposed mechanism is an IgG mediated
response. Some food allergists diagnose specific food allergies by
measuring IgG levels. This runs counter to all of modern allergy practice.

Allergists give allergy shots to treat allergy. The way this works is
they give a low level of allergen, which is not enough to elicit an IgE
reaction. The dose is slowly increased until eventually the patient can
tolerate a significant exposure to the allergen.

This is how it works. The repeated low-level exposure to the allergen
induces the body to make a different antibody to the substance. This
antibody attaches to the allergen and deactivates it before IgE can cause
the allergy reaction. What is this antibody that allergists try to induce
to cure their patients of their allergies? You guessed it, IgG. So the
very antibody the traditional allergists have been inducing for decades
to successfully treat allergies, the food allergy people claim is the
antibody guilty of causing allergies.

For a traditional allergist this is nothing short of heresy. IgG has been
used for decades to treat allergies successfully. Comes along Rapp and
her friends and they claim that IgG causes allergy? This is a little hard
for some people to accept.

Just how strongly do allergists reject this idea? I once tried to contact
an Israeli physician who was a food allergy specialist to discuss with
him provocation-neutralization testing. I called the hospital where he is
on staff and asked to speak with him. For some reason the operator
instead put me through to the head of the Department of Allergy.

I began discussing with him the theory of food allergies,
provocation-neutralization testing and IgG testing. He told me that he
was the head of a committee of allergists who were in the process of
testifying before the Israeli Knesset to get legislation passed to make
IgG testing illegal in Israel.

Can you imagine? You visit a prison in Israel. In one cell there is car
thief. In the next cell there is a mass murderer. And in the next cell
there is a guy who tested someone for food allergies. Now that’s pretty
strong opposition!

Do Food Allergies Really Exist?

The formal medical societies like the AMA claim there is no such thing as
food allergies. Rapp and her friends have been screaming for decades that
they do exist. So, what is the bottom line? Does it really make sense
that what a child eats can affect him so strongly that experts will
diagnose him as having ADHD?

We know that the brain is a highly complicated and sensitive organ. We
know that many foods have a physiological effect on the body without
inducing a classic allergic response. For example, people who are
sensitive to monosodium glutamate can have a severe reaction to eating
it. The chemicals in red wine affect certain people. We also know that
ingesting certain foods alters brain function. Diet has been proven to
influence neurotransmitter function. Components of foods can also be used
as drugs. For example, tryptophan, tyrosine, and choline have been used
in the treatment of sleep disorders, pain, depression, mania,
hypertension, shock, or dyskinesias.

The logic of Rapp’s argument is so strong and there is enough
circumstantial evidence, that I feel that the question is really the
other way around. We know that the brain is intricate and has tremendous
metabolic requirements. We know that some people have very strong
reactions, including behavioral changes, to certain foods. These things
are undisputed. If it turns out that foods do not elicit significant
problems in sensitive children, in my opinion, we would need to explain
why not!

Are we really seeing an allergy mechanism to food? I prefer to stay out
of that debate. Rather than be ostracized by the doctors who specialize
in allergy, I feel it is safer to call them food sensitivities. There are
no doctors who specialize in sensitivity.

Does Your Child Have Food Sensitivities?

A large number of ADHD children may be having a negative response to
food, and this response may be the primary cause of their ADHD. In what
type of child should you suspect food allergies?

The following is a list of symptoms that resulted from food allergies in
certain children:

* Hyperactivity

* Changes in mood

* Halitosis

* Sleep disturbances

* Delay in sleep onset

* Migraines

* Other headaches

* Abdominal pain

* Bedwetting

* Tantrums

* Eczema

* Asthma

* Seizures

Research shows that by treating the food allergies all of these symptoms
can be relieved.

If you see your child’s symptoms in this list it is possible that food
allergies may be contributing to his problem. If your child also has
other allergic problems, such as allergy or asthma, then food allergies
are almost certainly contributing to his problems.

What Should You Do?

As I wrote in How to Help the Child You Love, there are a number of
approaches to diagnosing food allergies. None of them are well
substantiated and all of them have difficulties. Yet, many people find
that these diagnostic techniques worked for them. Therefore, I’d suggest
you could use them provided you have it on good authority that the person
administering them has a strong record of success. In my experience,
these techniques are more of an art than a science. They really depend
upon the talent of the diagnostician.

As I said last time, the best approach to finding food allergies in your
child is an elimination diet. It doesn’t really matter which one you
choose. I prefer the three that I outline in How to Help the Child You
Love. (see addadhdadvances /childyoulove.html)

Conclusion

Researchers claim that the percentage of ADHD children whose behavioral
symptoms are affected by foods ranges from 60% to 75%. This, however, is
probably not an accurate number. Parents who consent to have their
children participate in diet studies usually believe they have observed
food-induced problems in their children. Therefore, children who
participate in these studies are more likely to respond to foods than the
general population. The truth is we do not know what percentage of ADHD
children will respond to dietary changes, but it seems that the number is
significant.

Treating the food sensitivities in ADHD children has a number of
advantages over using medication. One major advantage all the current
methods of treatment can be used to treat pre-school children. Most
clinicians do not use medication on pre-school children. A more
significant advantage of treating food allergy is that when it works, it
works all day. In contrast, Ritalin wears off in about 4 hours.

All this, of course, is providing that food allergies really do exist.

The main thing to remember is that if you think your child has food
allergies, then the biggest mistake you can make is to go to an
allergist. They don’t believe in food allergies. And whatever you do, do
not go to an allergist and ask to have your child
provocation-neutralization tested for food allergies. He is going to
laugh at you.

Food allergy is an alternative medicine diagnosis. Still, there are
physicians who specialize in diagnosing and treating these sensitivities,
but they no longer call themselves allergists. Rapp and her group were so
ostracized by the formal allergy societies that they eventually broke off
and formed a new field called Environmental Medicine.

Therefore, if you want a physician to treat your child you need to find
an Environmental Medicine specialist. They are not so common, but they
are around.

As I mentioned before, there are a number of approaches to treating food
sensitivities. The one you can do yourself is to use an elimination diet.
I devoted a large section of How to Help the Child You Love describing
exactly how to use elimination diets to diagnose and treat food
sensitivities.

In the final analysis, I feel it is fair to say that many ADHD children
have sensitivities to the foods they eat. These sensitivities may
exacerbate their ADHD symptoms. I won’t go so far as to say that food
allergies cause ADHD. That means that if your ADHD child has severe food
sensitivity, treating that sensitivity may not get rid of his ADHD.
However, until you treat his food allergy, nothing else you do will
really help your child’s ADHD, either.

Anthony Kane, MD

ADD ADHD Advances

addadhdadvances

Anthony Kane, MD is a physician, an international lecturer, and director
of special education. He is the author of a book, numerous articles, and
a number of online programs dealing with ADHD
(addadhdadvances /childyoulove.html) treatment, ODD, parenting issues
(addadhdadvances /betterbehavior.html), and education. You may visit
his website at addadhdadvances . To sign up for the free ADD
ADHD Advances online journal send a blank email to:
subscribe@addadhdadvances ?subject=subscribeartcity

akane@addadhdadvances

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Air Purifier Info For Dummies

 


 

  Reggie Dunn

If you are in the dark about what air purifiers are and what

they actually do, you are not alone. Many people have at

least thought about the notion of improving their indoor air

quality, but quickly abandon the idea because of the

confusion surrounding the topic of air purifiers. Hopefully,

after reading this article, you will have a working

knowledge of air purifiers and how they work.

First of all, lets define the term air purifier. An air

purifier is a mechanism that is designed to free air from

contaminants. Different techniques are used to render this

task and these include filters, adsorbents, and

electrostatic charges. Asthma sufferers, those that have

allergies, and those with other respitory problems have the

most to gain from an air purifier.

Air purifiers work by drawing these contaminants

(pollutants, particles, and pollen) from within the air that

we are breathing. Harmful air is pulled into the air

purifier by the inlet grill. Some air purifiers have a

pre-filter that helps contain the larger of the airborne

particles. Air will then travel through the carbon filter

which will help reduce unpleasant odors. Then the air will

pass through another filter that is composed of many tightly

woven fibers. Finally, the fan redirects the filtered air

throughout the room.

There are several factors that must be taken into

consideration to determine how much expense will be involved

in the purchase of an air purifier. When considering cost,

you must look into how much the replacement filters will run

as well as how often they will need changed. What may appear

to be a bargain up front on a less expensive model, could

potentially cost you much more later on down the road. Also,

it is important to see if you can order the replacement

filters in bulk at a discounted rate. It is always a good

idea to find out from the manufacturer what the estimated

electrical usage will be and whether or not the air purifier

runs on a cycle or does it have to stay on constantly.

At the end of the day, it is up to you to decide if an air

purifier is right for you and your family, but hopefully the

information contained here has given you a working knowledge

on what exactly air purifiers are and how they work.

About the Author

Reggie Dunn is a long time volunteer environmentalist and the webmaster
of Reggie Dunn is a long time volunteer environmentalist and the
webmaster of

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Air Purifiers: An Investigation of the Types and their Benef

 


 

  Mike Spencer

Considering the amount of irritants that are present in the air today,
those who suffer from allergies and other breathing disorders are
challenged to find effective ways to clean the air that they breathe
within their

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  environment.

Not so many years ago, this simply meant making sure that the house was
dusted regularly and that pets were bathed and brushed – outdoors – as
often as possible, in order to cut down on the most common allergy
inducing factors.

Today, there’s far more at stake, when we consider the types of
contaminants that are present in our environment as a result of pollution.

The Challenge

Bigger challenges, then, require better tools for providing a solution -
enter, the air purifier.

The cleaning of the air within your

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  can be accomplished in a variety
of different ways.

Air Cleaners

A simple, straightforward air cleaner is designed to reduce the dust
build-up within the

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 , offering the benefits of cleaner air and less
need to perform common household chores, such as dusting. These are
electronic in nature and use a basic filtering system that’s designed to
draw in, clean and re-circulate the air.

Air Purifiers

Air purifiers are a bit more complex, in that they are specifically
designed to eliminate pollutants such as pollen and other airborne
irritants, in addition to the dust that the air cleaner removes from the
environment.

These purifiers are available in a number of sizes, including the
portable version. In this case, the air is drawn to the bottom of the
cleaner and is then pushed upward through an aluminum mesh filter. This
is where the pollutants are trapped before the air is moved on to the
next phase of the process.

An electronic cleaning cell (two-stage) is the next stop for the airflow,
which ionizes dust particles that are invisible to the naked eye and
cleans them from the air. From there, the air is diverted to an activated
charcoal filter which deodorizes any odors that may remain before the air
is re-circulated.

An electronic air purifier should be placed in an area where the highest
amount of family traffic takes place, though it can be installed in any
room of the

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 .

Complete with a two-speed fan that can typically clean an area of up to
300 cubic feet when on the highest setting, this type of air purifier
would be ideal for a room that measured 20′ x 30′.

Good on Economy too…

As economical as it is useful, an electronic air purifier doesn’t require
any special wiring, and uses less electricity than that of a 100-watt
light bulb.

The electric air cleaner is utilized by placing it in the central duct
system, and cleans the air through the process of electrostatic
precipitation.

Basically, this just means that when the furnace blows smoke and other
contaminants into the air, they are forced into a filter, then a charging
station that provides charges from tungsten wires.

From there, any remaining particles are forced into a collection area,
where they’re trapped and washed away by the cleaning process. Charcoal
filters are in position to eliminate any leftover odors from the air,
which is then forced out into the

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  for re-circulation.

Depending upon the design of your

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 , your economic constraints and the
level of allergies that your family members possess, there’s a system
that will work for you. Once the air in your

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  is properly cleaned and
purified, you’ll all be breathing much easier.

For more information on selecting an air purifier visit:
Air Purifiers Reviewed Mike has suffered with asthma and numerous
allergies most of his life. He found that one way to help improve his
symptoms was by cleaning and purifying the air in his house, so took up
the challenge to find an effective and value for money solution to air
purification. He’s collated his results on his web site here: Air
Purifiers Reviewed

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Air Purifiers: An Investigation of the Types and their Benef

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Air purifiers and air filters can help the health of Allergy

 


 

  S.A. Smith

Indoor air pollution in the form of dander, dust and pollen particulate
matter can be a real irritant for suffers of asthma, allergies and other
respiratory conditions. In addition to removal of all direct irritant
sources and minimizing the irritant containment materials in your house,
you should also consider the indoor ventilation and filtration system of

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 .

Environmental control is the key to reducing exposure to indoor and
outdoor allergens. Keeping a clean house free of dust, dander, smoke,
pollen, and other airborne particulate matters will help to reduce the
irritation and effect on family members with respiratory difficulties.
Air cleaners, filters and hepa filters can play a role in helping to
control or reduce the exposure to indoor and outdoor allergens.

Several health authorities have recognized that certain types of air
filtration systems can be beneficial in reducing the amount of airborne
particulates in a room. The American lung association recommends using a
hepa air filter purifier for the bedrooms of asthma suffers.
The Mayo clinic recommends an air particle filter for household
ventilation systems. Ionic filters and hepa filters have been endorsed or
recognized by the Asthma and allergy foundation of America (AAFA) and the
British Allergy Foundation seal of approval.

Selecting the wrong type of filtration system could exacerbate the
problem by agitating and circulating the existing particulate matter
throughout your house, so it is important to do your research thoroughly.
Ionic air filters do not create high airflow patterns to clean the air
and simply rely on negative ion attraction to collect the airborne
particulate matter. They have demonstrates to have decent capture rate of
airborne allergens and irritants like pollen, dander, tobacco smoke and
dust and can help improve the quality of your indoor air environment. You
can read more the ionic air filtration process
at: www.air-purifiers-review /ionic-air-cleaner.htm

Air filtration systems should not be considered as a solution for any
respiratory condition, nor as a reason to ignore sound medical advice and
guidance about the removal of irritant sources and allergen habitats from
your household. They are also not a substitute for thorough and regular
cleaning of your household environment. Selecting the right air purifier
system can help complement and enhance your efforts to reducing airborne
particulate matters, as well as maintain a healthier indoor breathing
environment.

About the Author

S.A. Smith is a freelance editor, writer, and contributor to the Air
Purifiers Review resource site, and can be reached at
www.air-purifiers-review

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Air purifiers and air filters can help the health of Allergy

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  Or In The Workplace

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Air Quality We Breathe At

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  Or In The Workplace

 


 

  Peter McGarry

How would you rate the quality of air in your workplace? More importantly
what factors are you considering when rating it?

Your

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  or work environment may be causing you additional health risks
without you realizing it. On average, Canadians spend about 80-90 percent
of their time indoors, thus the quality of indoor air is very important.
Ask yourself a few questions:

Does fresh, outside air flow into the room or office you are usually in?

Is the room humid?

Are there any gas-fired appliances?

Is your furniture composed of particle board or wood laminents?

These questions need to be addressed when determining the quality of air
in our

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  or workplace. Here are the reasons why.

Does fresh, outside air flow into the room or office you are usually in?
Better insulation can save on heating costs, but it limits the amount of
fresh air that enters and leaves your house or office.As a lot of water
vapour is produced from normal human activities, fresh air is necessary
to get rid of this extra humidity.

Is the room humid?

Humid or damp conditions in your

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  can encourage the growth of mould
and dust mites. Mould can develop from too much humidity, building leaks,
refrigerator drip pans, bathroom surfaces and flooding. Mouldy smells
from carpet, wood and gypsum board are a sign that they harbour fungi.
Stale water in humidifiers and air conditioners can lead to the growth of
bacteria and fungi.

Are there any gas-fired appliances?

Typically, oven and pilot light emissions are not vented and can
contribute significantly to indoor levels of carbon monoxide, nitrogen
oxides and formaldehyde. Of emerging interest as a potential source of
indoor air pollution is the wood burning stove. Since combustion is much
less complete with wood than with oil and gas furnaces, pollution
emissions can be greater. Though by-products should be vented to the
outside, leaks and improper operation of these appliances can cause
emissions to the indoors. Kerosene heaters are becoming increasingly
popular for space heating. Since these systems are often unvented, the
potential for high level contamination exists.

Is your furniture composed of particle board or laminated wood?

Formaldehyde is released from laminated wood and particleboard in which
formaldehyde-containing resins have been used. Urea formaldehyde foam
insulation is a significant source of formaldehyde and possibly other
gaseous products. Insulating materials such as fibreglass can release
particulate matter to indoor air.

Health Risks

Illnesses caused by poor air quality range from skin irritation to
sneezing and asthma. In some cases, toxins from fungi can cause illness.
Toxins in dust can produce fever and flu-like symptoms, especially if the
environment is damp. Viruses can also be found in indoor air, but they do
not usually lead to illness. A virus does not survive long in air, and
getting sick usually results from contact with infected people.

Peter McGarry
info@magneticrevolution

For additional free information on health issues regarding air, water,
fitness, nutrition and sleep, please visit www.magneticrevolution .
This site is a guide to improving your quality of life.

About the Author

I take an active role in my health and well-being. I created a site
www.magneticrevolution , for others to read articles about everyday
issues on air and water quality, sleep, nutrition and fitness with the
intention to create awareness for improving our quality of life.
info@magneticrevolution

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  Or In The Workplace

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Air Purifiers, Are They Worth The Money?

 


 

  Dominic Ferrara

When you suffer from allergies or asthma, you may think it may be a good
idea to purchase an air filtration system for your house. But one
legitimate question would be: is it worth paying the money? Experts say
that it can ease your symptoms, but that is true only if you make other
changes in your environment, too.

These changes concern avoiding the carpeting, finding another place for
your pets and using air conditioning during the warmer months in order to
get rid of the pollens or allergens. You should as well clean the air
filters, the air conditioner filters, and the duct filters every season.
Another possibility is not to open your windows and to avoid staying a
lot outdoors, during the period when your allergies are acute.

If you have tried all these and didn’t find adequate relief, then it may
be better for you to think about using an air filter. The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as the American Lung
Association recommends air filtration for those who suffer from allergies
and asthma, but not as a solution per-se. Controlling the pollution and
ventilation that can cause allergies is more important; there are
arguments on whether filters can give relief from asthma in a house that
is clean and well ventilated. Air cleaners may be helpful in some
situations and may help reducing allergy or asthma symptoms, but that air
cleaning is not the one to reduce consistently the symptoms.

About The Author

Dominic is the author of this article. This article may be reproduced on
websites subject to credit being given to the author, and a link to his
website. If you would like more information go to
www.airpurifiersources .

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Air Purifiers, Are They Worth The Money?

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Allergic Food Reactions

 


 

  Wong Lai Teng

The topic of allergic food reactions is undoubtedly one of the most
confused of clinical immunology. The term ‘allergic’ is frequently used
inappropriately to describe all conditions where reproducible reactions
are triggered by food ingestions, disappear on an elimination diet and
recur on a blind challenge. ‘Food intolerance’ is the appropriate term to
define the entirety of these conditions.

Allergic food reactions should be confined to those cases where an immune
mechanism can be demonstrated. Most instances of food intolerance are not
explained by a clear immunological mechanism, being caused by toxics
(spices, sulphites) and pharmacological (caffeine, sodium nitrite)
stimuli or by enzymatic deficiencies (lactose deficiency in some cases of
milk intolerance). In these non-immune food reactions, however, many of
the manifestations may be accounted for by activation of the alternative
complement pathway. It is postulated that this pathway is triggered by
non-immune stimuli such as food contaminants, leading to formation of
anaphylotoxins such as C5a.

In the first year of life, food intolerance is relatively common, with
cow’s milk being the most frequent initiating stimulus. It appears as
gastrointestinal symptoms and possibly wheezing. In adults the foods most
frequently involved in intolerance are milk, eggs, fish, nuts, wheat and
chocolate. These food reactions frequently have an allergic pathogenesis.
Symptoms include urticaria, angioedema, asthma, anaphylaxis and less
frequently, nausea and vomiting. Such manifestations, but even more those
comprising the oral allergy syndrome-swelling of the lips within minutes
of food ingestions and tingling in the mouth and the throat-closely
correlate with the presence of specific IgE and implicate a type I
hypersensitivity as the mechanism responsible for the clinical
manifestations.

Involvement of type I hypersensitivity can be documented by the detection
of specific IgE using the RAST or, less expensively, with a skin prick
test. The prick test, unfortunately, is only as good as the antigen it
uses. Therefore, while antigenic preparations from eggs, milk or
shellfish may provoke a positive skin reaction in sensitized individuals,
highly purified preparations from apple are rarely do, even if a
hypersensitive subject gives strikingly positive reactions when
challenged with cruder preparations from apple juice or apple peel. The
main diagnostic procedure in food intolerance is an elimination diet from
which suspect foods are gradually removed until symptoms disappear. A
positive diagnosis is made when symptoms reappear upon reintroducing a
specific food. This challenge should be done in a double-blind manner
using placebo controls. The challenge should be avoided, however, if the
food is suspected to have caused systemic anaphylaxis in the past.

About the Author

www.medical-explorer

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Allergic Food Reactions

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Allergies, Asthma and City Trees

 


 

  Thomas Ogren

Allergies, Asthma and City Trees

Thomas Leo Ogren

Some urban tree species cause an inordinate amount of asthma and allergy
problems, while other tree species cause little or no health problems. A
large part of the problem is that the arborists and landscape
professionals, who plant these trees, often don’t know the difference.
The type of trees (and shrubs) used in modern city landscapes has changed
dramatically in the past three decades. In the past, the majority of
street trees used were perfect-flowered, insect-pollinated trees, such as
the once so common American elm tree.
Today though, many of the most widely used city trees are wind-pollinated
species. Most of these species are unisexually flowered (dioecious and/or
monoecious) and further compounding the problem, thousands of popular
cultivars sold today are touted to be “seedless,” “low-maintenance,”
“pod-free” or “litter-free.”
These fruitless, seedless trees are male plants, all male, and male trees
produce prodigious amounts of allergenic pollen. Female trees produce NO
pollen what so ever.
In dioecious-flowered trees such as most ash, willow and poplars, it is
easy to propagate male only trees because they are separate-sexed.
Monoecious trees, which in Nature always have both sexes (male and female
flowers) on the same tree, also usually produce abundant pollen. It is
possible to have all-male trees from the monoecious species. On many
species the sexes will be born on separate branches, such as on a Honey
Locust tree. If you take cuttings, or budwood, only from the branches
with male flowers, then, you’ll get an all-male tree. Lots of monoecious
Acer spp. cultivars are male-only plants. In a somewhat different way,
there are also numerous monoecious species where only the top or only the
bottom will have either male or female flowers. For example, the bottom
half of a mature Italian Cypress for example is all-male. Female
wood is found only at the top of the plant. Thus, scion wood taken from
the bottom usually produces “seedless” plants.
The terms “dioecious,” and “monoecious,” are botanical terms, not
horticultural terms. We could perhaps say that a manipulated, asexually
propagated all-male cultivar, taken from a monoecious species, is now
“dioecious,” but this is not quite correct. A proper dioecious tree is
one that in Nature is separate-sexed. These modern engineered trees are
never found in Nature.
Interestingly, the first reference in print I ever found to this single
sexing-out with monoecious street trees, was in a USDA booklet, from
1982, called “Genetic Improvement of Urban Street Trees.”

How Bad Is Allergy Now?
In 1959 the official rate of allergy in the U.S. was between 2 to 5% of
the public. By 1999 the official rate of allergy had increased to an
incredible 38% of Americans. Asthma, which was once considered rare, is
now the number one chronic childhood disease in the US.

Where are Allergies and Asthma the Worst?
The most common allergen of all is pollen and since there are so many
more plants growing in the country than in the city, it would make sense
then that there is more allergy and asthma in the countryside. Right? No,
wrong! Allergies and asthma are far worse in the city than they are in
the country.

Several things contribute to this:
1.Pavement makes a poor pollen trap. Pollen in the city often lands on
pavement where wind can cause it to become airborne again. In naturally
vegetated areas where there is much more vegetation, pollen often lands
on and becomes stuck in grasses, shrubs and vines or in trees.
2.Cities have more air pollution, which weakens the immune system and
lung function.
3.Stress, which is generally higher in cities, can contribute to both
asthma and allergy development.
4.Increased carbon dioxide levels within cities causes pollen-forming
plants to produce more pollen with each bloom cycle, and also often
causes urban plants to bloom more often.
5.Pollen loads are actually far greater in cities because there is a
sexual imbalance within the plant community. In the city there is a
preponderance of male trees and shrubs, while in the rural areas there is
almost always a complete balance of plant sexuality. The excess of male
plants in the city results in an excess of pollen.
6.The very lack of female plant materials in the urban environment also
is a prime factor in the epidemic of allergy and asthma. Female flowers
carry an electrical negative (-) charge (the trees are grounded with
their roots) and airborne pollen holds a positive (+) charge. The tree
and the pollen are mutually attractive; thus a female plant becomes a
very effective pollen trap for pollen of its own species. But with almost
no female trees and shrubs in modern landscapes, most of the pollen
remains airborne.

How to Improve Health and Air Quality through Tree Selection
Landscaping to reduce allergies, especially pollen allergies, is an idea
that is coming into its own. In the past few years several books have
been written on the subject and interest is growing rapidly.
With the addition of OPALS™, (Ogren Plant-Allergy Scale) arborists now
have a means to design allergy-free plantings. This scale ranks all
landscape plant materials on a simple 1 to 10 allergy basis. Trees that
produce zero pollen, e.g., female cultivars, usually rank the best –
number one. Trees that have abundant, highly allergenic pollen,
especially those with very long bloom periods, are usually ranked the
worst – in the 9-10 range. There are many trees and shrubs, however, that
fall somewhere in between. Using a list of over 100 factors, OPALS™
numerically ranks each species and then further ranks the individual
cultivars. There are often dramatic allergy differences even between two
species in the same genus.

How Are Plants Allergy-Ranked?
OPALS™ was developed based on the following considerations: “What do
plants that are well known to cause allergies have in common?” and “What
do plants that are well known NOT to cause allergies have in common?”
With these two questions it was possible to build two opposing sets of
medical-botanical-allergy criteria. One set is positive and one set is
negative. Examples of negative criteria: tiny flowers, excerted stamens,
small (less than 25 microns in diameter) sized pollen grains, extended
bloom period. Examples of positive criteria: complete flowered, sticky,
heavy pollen grains, presence of nectaries, brief bloom period.
There are now over a hundred criteria used to develop OPALS™ rankings.
Individual landscapers, city arborists, the USDA and the American Lung
Association have already use the scale to make better landscaping
decisions.
Based on the plant-allergy scale it is now possible to state, for
example, that Acer rubrum – ‘Red Sunset’ maple, is ranked number one and
causes no allergies. By comparison, ‘Autumn Spire,’ a male cultivar of
red maple does cause allergies and is ranked number nine. Most Pine trees
will rank at numbers 4 to 5 and will cause some allergy. Platanus species
(sycamore) rank number eight, and cause quite a bit of allergy. A male
Canary Island Palm, Phoenix canariensis, which is considered one of the
worst at a ranking of 10, will produce an abundance of pollen that will
cause severe allergic reactions to many living nearby.
Pollen dispersal rates have been measured since 1972 (Gilbert Raynor, NY
meteorologist) and although many pollen grains travel far in the air,
research shows that most often 99% of a tree’s pollen falls out and
sticks within fifty feet of the tree. This means that the closer one is
to the pollinating tree the greater the exposure. Thus, the job for
arborists is to plant trees that will not expose everyone near them to
allergenic pollen.

So, How Do You Tell the Boys from the Girls?
It isn’t always that obvious by looking at a tree (especially a young
tree) as to whether or not it is a pollen-free female or a
pollen-producing male. But since so many city trees are now asexually
produced cultivars, the sex is predetermined. In the book Allergy-Free
Gardening, which is the result of 15 years of research on this subject,
several thousand trees were individually sexed and allergy-ranked. In
some cities, pollen control ordinances are already on the books, although
most of these could be improved an updated. Albuquerque, New Mexico is
particular interesting, since it has attempted to curb allergies by
prohibiting the sale and planting of any male cultivars.
As the public grows more knowledgeable about allergy-free landscapes,
municipal arborists and landscape specialists will want to be ahead of
the curve. They will want to show their clients that they are
well-informed on the subject. In the future, instead of planting high
allergy-trees, they will need to plan and plant ‘healthy’ urban
landscapes.

References:
1.Lewis, Walter H., Airborne and Allergenic Pollen of North America, John
Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, 1976.
2.Jacobson, Arthur Lee, North American Landscape Trees, Ten Speed Press,
Berkeley, California, 1996.
3.Koch, Christopher Von, Allergy, Die Woche, pg. 27, July 7, 2000,
Hamburg, Germany.
4.Dworschak, Manfred, Der Spiegel, Feind am StraBenrad, Pp. 174, 175, Nr.
29, 2000.
5.Ogren, Thomas Leo, Turn Back the Pollen Clock, New Scientist, London,
Pp. 46, 47, June 3rd, 2000.

About the Author

Thomas Ogren is the author of Allergy-Free Gardening, Ten Speed Press.
Tom does consulting work on plants and allergies for the USDA, county
asthma coalitions, and the Canadian and American Lung Associations. He
has appeared on HGTV and The Discovery Channel. His book, Safe Sex in the
Garden, was published in 2003. In 2004 Time Warner Books published his
latest book: What the Experts May NOT Tell You About: Growing the Perfect
Lawn. His website: www.allergyfree-gardening

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