Allergies and Your Health

What are allergies?

Von Pirquet, a Viennese physician, first used the word allergy in 1906 to mean “altered reactivity.” He described allergic people as having excessive responses to something in their environment. These environmental allergens, which are virtually limitless in number, can trigger our immune system into battle, and give rise to allergic (or hypersensitivity) reactions.
In fact, almost anything can stimulate our immune system into action. Certain foods, pollens, animal dander, molds, yeasts, and bacteria, as well as many chemicals, are the most commonly recognized allergens.
Immunoglobulins (antibodies) are produced by our immune system against foreign invaders that are deemed to be dangerous. Antibodies mediate significant inflammatory processes as part of this defensive action. Allergic symptoms are the direct result of these antibody caused processes.
Allergic reactions to common foods such as milk, wheat, corn, soy, citrus, tomatoes and peanuts may be mistakenly attributed to passing viral infections or recurrent “colds”. The relationship between the many common symptoms (including fatigue, headache, anxiety, as well as itchy runny nose and puffy eyelids) and the allergies that caused them may go unrecognized for years. Increased stress, recurrent infections or declining health may add to the burden of chronic allergies. Over the years, arthritis, gastrointestinal disorders, autoimmune disease, eczema, and migraines, to name a few serious conditions linked with food allergies, can develop into chronic conditions if the offending allergens are not discovered and removed from the diet.

Why do Allergies Develop?

Imbalanced or inadequate diets, stress, genetic predisposition, infections and inflammation, chemicals, drugs, environmental pollutants and toxins are all possible contributing factors in the development of allergies.
Research has shown that these causative factors can weaken both digestion as well as the protective defenses in our GI tract and lungs allowing for allergens to more easily confront our beleaguered immune system.

Who Has Allergies?

Almost everyone knows someone who suffers from symptoms of allergy,  including skin rashes, diarrhea, migraine headaches, irritable bowel, runny nose, wheezing, or a host of other common uncomfortable and illness. Conservative estimates imply that as many as 25 percent of the population have significant allergies to some types of foods, chemicals, or inhalants. The true incidence of allergy and intolerance may be considerably higher if we include the less dramatic symptoms of occasional anxiety, joint aches, generalized fatigue, and water retention as well.

Types of Allergic Reactions and Their Mediators:

There are two major types of allergic reactions:

• Type I:

  • Immediate onset
     

  • IgE antibody
     

• Type III:

  • Delayed onset
     

  • IgG antibody

Type I or Immediate Onset Reactions:

This type of allergic reaction, mediated via IgE antibodies typically occurs immediately after contact with an allergen. High levels of IgE antibodies reacting to specific allergens can cause serious health problems. This type of allergy is easily recognized because it involves quick and dramatic symptoms. Possible symptoms include skin rashes, itching lips, swelling throat (making breathing more difficult), hives, bloating, abrupt diarrhea, stomach or abdominal pain and asthma.


Type III or Delayed Onset Reactions:

The delayed type of reaction is much less obvious and thus more difficult to discover; the reaction may occur up to several hours or days after contact with the allergen. This type of allergy is often considered “hidden allergies”. Chronic fatigue, arthritis, hives, eczema, headaches, water retention, irritable bowel, and many other chronic symptoms are often the legacy of unrealized and untreated IgG mediated allergic reactions.

What Can I Do?

The latest exacting technologies in laboratory medicine are now available to measure, from small blood samples, our immune system response to 96 foods.  The actual levels of IgE and IgG antibodies against these individual allergens can be precisely measured. The US BioTek Laboratories allergy test will help you discover with ease what you need to avoid or what you can include in your diet to minimize allergic reactions and strengthen your immune system.

Find out more about the Aller-Food Check (Delayed food allergy Assessment) - your personal dietary assessment.