Pollen Problems

APRIL 26: More to consider when dealing with allergies -

Why Your Allergies Are Getting Worse
This Mother Jones article points a finger at "warming". I'm still out on the "warming" issue but a related concern that does include "warming" of a different color is the impact on your allergies, including your lungs and respiratory system, is that cause by EMF and sell phone or wi-fi use.
When you are in the circle of radiation, whether it is your cell phone or that of an inconsiderate person talking or texting, or using a wireless laptop within 6 feet of you (or some one else) your allergies will get worse.
For all those who believe EMF is not a risk, then why is it that the electrostatic (magnetic)field created by these gadgets causes particulate matter in your environment to adhere to the lining of your nose, and eventually your lungs?
This is sort of basic science I learned early-on from Mr. Wizard, years before middle school science.
Remember that trick about rubbing a balloon on your clothes and seeing it stick to something else? Well, here you have it!

Refer to this post FMI
ORIGINAL POST: 9 APRIL -
I was an allergic kid and still have problems with mold and grass. When I lived in Western Washington the Scotch Broom was a real irritant.

I understand how problematic allergy can be.

I also understand how it is not necessary to use Claritin, Nasonex, or Bendryl to address the problems, as the drugs create issues of their own.

To me short term relief is not worth the price of longterm undermining of natural protective mechanisms of your body. Eventually your health pays the price.

Claritin for children contains some artificial sweeteners that have serious health impact.

Nasonex is a steroidal spray that displaces the natural reaction of your body to block the irritant, which in this case is the pollen.

Benadryl makes you really sleepy and eventually it has no effect on the problem, and it contains - again - in the children's from, a toxic artificial sweetener and artificial flavor and color.

Please go to
http://www.leaflady.org/allergy.htm
http://www.leaflady.org/aaah-chooo_oh_my.htm
http://www.leaflady.org/notes_on_nettle.htm

and use the search function to locate the many articles we have on Natural Health News about vitamin C - the great natural anti-histamine that supports your adrenals - and also refer to Vitamin C Health Benefits, http://leaflady.org/blog2004.htm

Bee Pollen http://www.leaflady.org/bee_benefits.htm
Honey http://www.leaflady.org/honey.htm

I also like the OLBAS Inhaler as it can do wonders, even leading to reduced reaction to allergens, especially those irritating the upper respiratory system.

And, oh yes, perhaps it is too many vaccines that suppress immunity so you, and certainly small children, have a tough time because they've become hyper-reactive.

Achoo! Pollen at its worst in years in many areas
By TAMARA LUSH, Associated Press Writer

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Pollen: It's on your car, in the air and especially in your sinuses.

From Florida to Texas to Colorado, 2010 is shaping up to be a monster of an allergy season. The words "pollen" and "allergy" are among the top 10 trending topics on Twitter in several U.S. cities. Everywhere, it seems, is covered in a fine yellow dust that irritates our lives. Experts say it's the worst they've seen in years.

"It's wicked bad this year," said Dr. Mona Mangat, an allergy specialist in St. Petersburg, Fla., who can't recall a worse year in the six she's worked there. "We're just overwhelmed with patients right now. We're double- and triple-booked with new patients, trying to work people in because we know how much people are suffering."

And they are suffering a lot. Take 5-year-old Sam Wilson of St. Petersburg. His mom gives him Claritin in the morning, Nasonex and Benadryl at night, and he receives four allergy shots every week. The sidewalks of his hometown are covered in what look like piles of dried, brown worms — but they are mounds of oak tree pollen.

The boy's mother said that when the pollen is at its worst, his eyes water and itch, he can't breathe through his nose and his throat burns.

"His reaction yesterday was pretty bad," said his mother, 34-year-old Joanna Wilson on Thursday. "He couldn't breathe, he was completely congested, and crying."

Oak trees are the culprit in many places in the Southeast.

The trees produce 3,000 to 6,000 pollen particles per cubic meter; it only takes 10 particles to trigger an allergic reaction.

J.P. Levins, executive Web producer for the site pollen.com, said he's received a lot of e-mails from suffering Floridians — but he expects more complaints from other parts of the U.S. soon.

"The season is actually just picking up," he said, adding that most of the country is facing high pollen counts.

This year is especially bad in the Southeast, weather experts say, probably due to winter's unseasonably cold weather.

"That may have helped delay some of the plants from blooming as early as they may have wanted to," said John Feerick, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather. "It's the fact that everything is coming out all at once."

High winds in some areas also spread the misery.

"We had a perfect storm this year," said Dr. William Storms, professor at University of Colorado and a clinician. "It's the worst I've seen in 10 years."

Tree pollen season should subside within a few weeks, but experts say some will continue to suffer because grass and weed allergies rise in the summer months.

TB for Allergies?

Just the other day Andy Weil mentioned that people with asthma usually are low in magnesium resources.  Many of us in natural health care have known this too and for a very long time.

People with asthma also have a number of other nutritional deficiencies and this can be combined with food allergy as well.

Another factor is low adrenal function and suppressed immunity associated with the 30 some vaccines children are pushed to accept from birth to teen years.  Allergy often pops up after vaccination and it also seems to increase with environmental exposure to pollutants of many kinds.

In my case I think the childhood asthma I suffered with came from the fact that both my parents were constant smokers.

If you read Natural Health News often you are aware that we do not favor vaccination.

Keeping that in mind, I have to wonder just how the idea came about to utilize TB bacteria as the base for an allergy/asthma vaccine.

I also wonder, since no longterm studies have been completed just how these developers know that if you were to take this jab, how high is your risk of contracting TB.

If you look at flu vaccine or others such as measles, meningitis, pertussis, etc., you do too frequently find outbreaks of the disease in those who have taken the jab.

Just some things to think about...

'One size fits all' allergy jab for hay fever, asthma and eczema on the way

A jab that could provide a "one size fits all" approach to tackling hay fever, asthma and eczema could be available within a few years, a conference heard. 

Swiss researchers claimed allergies that blight the lives of 10 million British sufferers could be largely eradicated with a single vaccine. 

An allergy conference in London heard the “one size fits all” injection that wards off asthma, eczema, hay fever and even peanut allergies could be on the shelves within four to five years. 
Experts say if the jab, known only as CYT003-Qbg10 which has been tested on humans, is properly developed it become the “hail grail” of vaccines due to it helping ward off multiple allergies.

It would be welcome news to the estimated one in five Britons, or 10 million people, who suffer from hay fever.
 
A trial, conducted by scientists from Cytos Biotechnology, a firm based in Zurich, concluded that a course of the vaccine was almost as good as steroids at keeping asthma under control.

At the jab’s heart are pieces of synthetic DNA similar to those found in the bug that causes tuberculosis or TB.

The DNA fools the body into thinking it is under attack from a dangerous bug, kick-starting a multi-pronged immune response.

A total of 63 asthmatic patients were given the course of the jab or a series of injections of a dummy drug over two or three months.

Researchers found it cut asthma attacks or symptoms by a third.

In another trial, an injection every week over a month and half, cut the amount of runny noses and weepy eyes by almost 39 per cent.

Quality of life was boosted by 42 per cent, they added.

Dr Wolfgang Renner, the chief executive of Cytos, told the Daily Mail the results were exciting.

“We think it is a one-size-fits all mechanism,” he said.

“We are very excited about it.”

Dr Renner suggested the first large-scale human trial could start next year and a vaccine within a few years.

A spokesman for Allergy UK said: “It does sound a very promising treatment, giving hope for those with severe asthma/allergy symptoms for whom the usual treatments aren’t enough, but there is still a long way to go before it will be available.”

Leanne Metcalf, director of Research at Asthma UK, added: “Over three quarters of people with asthma also have an allergy, which can often trigger their asthma symptoms.
“We are, therefore, excited about the potential of this vaccine to make a real difference to people with asthma and allergies, especially as it has been shown in clinical trials to have relatively few side effects.”

Tuesday is thought to be the worst day of the year for hay fever.

The NHS currently estimates around ten million people suffer symptoms of hay fever – such as sneezing, runny nose and itchy eyes – in the spring and summer as grasses and trees release their pollen into the air.

But that number could reach 30 million within 20 years as city living, pollution and climate change exacerbate symptoms, experts warned earlier this year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7845325/One-size-fits-all-allergy-jab-for-hay-fever-asthma-and-eczema-on-the-way.html