(RSS)
A Word About Allergies
Allergies, asthma, eczema-why me? Well, you are not alone; one out of four Americans suffers from some form of allergic illness with an impact on their quality of life, school or work performance, and overall health.
Unlike infections, allergies are long-term health issues that require attention to avoidance of allergens, use of medications to control symptoms, and, at times, immunotherapy (allergy shots) to control the problems. Allergies can be more than just an annoyance and can lead to life threatening disease such as asthma attacks, food allergy reactions, and stinging insect reactions (more people die from bee stings than from rattle snakes!).
How can you combat these issues? Certainly avoiding the items to which you are allergic would be great, but this is not easy to do. Grasses, oak trees, cats; peanuts and other foods are just not easy to eliminate from your life. You can use air purifiers and A/C to control pollen allergens, keep pets out of the bedroom, and learn to read labels and watch restaurant menus closely for possible food allergens.
There are currently good medications available over-the-counter as well as by prescription for control of allergies and your pharmacist or doctor can guide you to those that are best for you. Long-term preventive strategies for asthma control with preventive inhalers can keep you out of the hospital or emergency room and definitely improve your quality of life. Immunotherapy, treatment that specifically improves your immune response to inhaled allergens, is also available.
Allergy shots have been shown to be very effective in treating allergies and asthma due to pollens, cat, molds, and house dust mite. Oral drops or sublingual immunotherapy has not been approved by the FDA and the materials we have in this country have not been shown to be either safe or effective; they will not be paid for by your insurance (although regular allergy shots are generally covered and at times can be less expensive than medications for management of your allergies or asthma).
The only treatment we currently have for food allergies is avoidance.
Stinging insects like bees and yellow jackets can cause life threatening reactions; these are very effectively treated with allergy shots to those stinging insects.
Your health care provider should be able to direct you to appropriate medications or to help you decide when it is time to seek the input from a board certified allergist trained to appropriately diagnose and treat your allergy and asthma problems.
Since 1984 Dr. Ron Renard has provided quality medical care to Northern California patients who suffer from allergy problems. You may reach Dr. Renard’s office at Redding Allergy & Asthma Care, 1505 Victor Avenue in Redding, telephone 530.226.5325. For more information visit reddingallergy.com.
1,034 views
Thank you, Dr. Renard, for your concise and helpful advice. There’s one statement, though, that I would respectfully disagree with, and that is that the only treatment we currently have for food allergies is avoidance. There is, in fact, a specialized form of acupuncture, NAET, that can successfully treat food allergies. This technique now has a 25-year track record and is offered nationally; it is believed to work according to the same principles as allergy shots in that it “convinces” the part of the brain responsible for regulation of the immune system that the substance is not a threat.
I realize that someone of your background would probably be very difficult to convince in terms of the efficacy (safety most definitely not an issue), but my personal experience with this method is that I went from having to take medications daily for years in order to manage my moderate to severe asthma to having to take nothing (definitely a big savings). I’ve now been asthma-free, literally, for six years since undergoing these treatments. The last time I left the country, asthma was so far from my mind I even forgot to pack an emergency inhaler. So, for those who are open-minded and willing to give something a try that wouldn’t hurt, even if it didn’t end up working for you (though the success rate is very high), I highly recommend it. And it is the only treatment that I’m aware of that is available for food allergies (I can tell you, my quality of life has skyrocketed).
It would be best to find an M.D. to administer the treatments if anyone is at all concerned about using an L.Ac. instead.
Reply
_Susan_ Reply:
August 20th, 2009 at 4:34 am
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/man-died-an-hour-after-being-treated-for-peanut-allergy-1719832.html
http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Tests/ak.html
http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/advice-how-to-reduce-the-risk-of-food-allergies
http://www.allergicliving.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3514&highlight=vega
http://www.allergicliving.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1936
Nuff said.
Reply
One simple way to know the air quality level of your area is to visit the different websites that provide information on the air quality level of your area. The information provided include the air and asthma alerts along with a host of other information that are worth noting.
Richard
Reply
If SubLingual ALLERGY DROPs
are not available because they have NOT been Approved by the FDA …
> WHY then do many Physicians in the USA offer DROPs to their Allergy Patients > NOW ?
Are they Breaking the Law ?
Something / Someone > Is Not ADDing up Here !
Pls Respond
Reply
Sublingual drops have not been proven in this country to be either safe or effective and will not be covered by your insurance.
I would check with the American Academy of Allergy and Immunology for more information on this subject.
Reply
Stephen Reply:
August 25th, 2009 at 8:58 am
1 in 3 INFANTs > Begin Life fighting the Lifetime Progression of Multiple diseases caused by their InHerited Allergy Disease.
Just as with Tradtional Allergy ( Ouch ) SHOTs > Your Sublingual DROPs > Do NOT Fall under requirement for FDA Approval > And are Custom Formulated specifically to EACH Patient’s unique Test ID’ed Allergy Profile > And can be prescribed by ANY > USA Physician.
So..
ALL the Doc’s and Patients who have been Successfully Treated by DROPs are > Breaking the Law ?
Effective ? > Allergy DROPS have been used Successfully / Safely by Physicians in Europe and other Countries for over 15 Yrs. > Are they Mal-Practicing ? Are “our” Dr.’s Smarter ?
As an Allergy Parent with and ALLERGY Child
> Who knows that UnTreated / UnNeutralized Allergy Disease Progression can quite likely lead to a Lifetime of entrenched > Allergic ASTHMA ( Achoo & Ouch ) > And beyond a Lifetime Slippery Slope of multiple “Allergy Driven” diseases, Health Complications & comromised Quality of Life .
> Who knows that > Sure as Heck > They Do NOT Want their Child to Suffer ( as they have ) From a Lifetime of Allergy / Allergic Asthma Disease.
> Who knows Immuno OUCH Therapy WORKS > But also knows that the Majority of Patients NEVER Finish Therapy because of Inconvenient SHOTs.
> Who knows Allergy DROPs are virtually Drug Free and have been used Successfully to Neutralize Allergy Progression in the world.
> Who knows that there are virtually No appreciable / serious Side Effects to DROPs > Suggest Read Product INSERT to the Allergy Med’s > Which ONLY Mask SYMPTOMs > While progression of allergy Disease Continues/ Exacerbates UnAbated > and tell me which one is Safer.
Do you want to tell that Parent that …YES
> Her Child’s Allergy Disease Progression to Allergic Asthma COULD have been prevented > but for some reason the Doc’s say No / Not Safe / InEffective > dispite above Information ? >> Good Luck with That !
Insurance coverage > Is another Subject independent of Clinicaly Efficacy of Immuno-Allergy DROPs .
To assume / state that Non-Insurance payment has AnyThing to do with reflection of Clinical Effectiveness of DROPs is Silly.
In Life it is NOT what People Tell you > It is What they Do NOT Tell You ..
Seems to me > That someone is not telling the whole story.
Reply
i have been suffering from Asthma ever since i was little kid. i can only manage it by taking medicines and some food supplements. :
Reply