Back to Home Page The Allergy Volcano Latex Allergy Immunotherapy GM Foods Autism Asthma Links	Allergic diseases are increasing world wide.  It seems that we cannot adapt to the environment we are creating, and the allergy volcano is erupting fast.  Western scientific medicine is ill equipped to deal with this modern phenomenon, and the ancient wisdom of complementary medicine has no experience of this it either.  Very few people of any discipline  are trained to diagnose and treat allergic diseases, and it is depressingly rare to meet anyone who has had expert  medical or therapeutic treatment for an allergic disease.  For this reason, I believe the public is entitled to as much information as possible, so that they are able to help themselves.  Many sources of help are available, if one knows where to look for them, and this paper offers much useful information for atopic people.   ATOPY is the inherited tendency to develop allergic diseases.  There have always been a few atopic people around, such as those who sneeze when in contact with dust or cats or something, but now there are millions of people affected, and the provocations are much wider that formerly. The Industrial Revolution started about two hundred years ago, and this may be very significant, because it was only then that mankind started to pollute the environment on a large scale.  A little later, about one hundred and twenty years ago, many new mysterious illnesses  were first noticed.  These were studied by far-sighted doctors, and the term allergy was coined by a Viennese paediatrician, Baron Clement von Pirquet, in 1906: “ An acquired, specific, altered capacity to react to physical substances on the part of the body”.   Von Pirquet also introduced into the language the word allergen to describe the substances that brought about these physical changes.   In the last fifty years we have seen an enormous increase in the range of  allergic diseases, and in the range of  allergens that provoke these diseases.  We have also seen a huge growth  in the pollution of our environment, and in the use of  chemicals, not only in industry, but in the soil and water, in our food, in our clothes and housing, and in drugs.  We breathe air polluted by toxic fumes emitted from innumerable sources.  Our bodies are bombarded by electro-magnetic waves of all frequencies.  Metals and other substances are introduced into our bodies.   Sensitisation to one or more of these alien substances can occur.  This means that the body reacts in an altered, or abnormal way, to any substance, and as soon as sensitisation occurs the immune system is damaged and a chain reaction starts , involving other seemingly unrelated substances which then become new allergens.
	It is easy to see from this diagram how potential allergens overlap and cannot be separated. Exposure to one allergen will trigger off sensitivity  to another, and this starts a chain reaction. But do not be despondent. Allergies can be treated, and even people severely ill can be cured. Help is available, and this article gives details of where to find it.
	A wide range of allergic diseases results, affecting one in three people, according to the European White Paper, June 1997 (1).  Every organ of the body can be affected - the respiratory system, the skin, the gastro-intestinal system, the lymphatic and endocrine systems, the muscular system, the reproductive system, the kidneys, pancreas and heart, the eyes, ears, nose and throat, the mucous membrane, the synovial membrane, and, (the most insidious and frightening of all), the brain, the nervous system and the personality (2) A brief study of the Allergy Volcano graphic will show the wide range of illnesses that can occur, but there is no indication of a connection between the boiling mass of lava at the bottom, and the ill health  spewing out of the top.  In fact, most of the illnesses would not be considered as “allergic diseases” by doctors, who are trained on a system-based view of the body.  So it is not unknown for a patient with multiple allergic symptoms to see a dermatologist for eczema, a respiratory specialist for asthma, a gastro-enterologist for bowel problems, a gynaecologist for PMT or sterility, a rheumatologist for arthritis, an optometrist for blurred vision, a cardiologist for tachycardia, an ENT specialist for tinnitus, blocked nose or sore throats and, finally, a psychiatrist for panic attacks or depression, or simply because one or other of these specialists decides that the symptoms, for which no cause can be found, are of psychological origin   None of these specialists will get to the root of the problem, and consequently a misdiagnosis is frequently made, and the patient treated inappropriately.
	A Crisis in Childhood Allergies   Sensitisation to any substance will occur readily when the body is young, and the immune system of a child is easily damaged.  If this occurs, the effects are usually life-long. At a conservative estimate one in 5/7 children today have asthma or eczema, or both.  Many other illnesses are increasing in children also, such as chronic fatigue, headaches, muscular pains and weakness, Crohn’s disease and stomach cramps, persistent ear, nose, throat and chest infections.  More worrying is the increase of mental aberration in children, such as autism, attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), uncontrollable, sometimes aggressive behaviour, lethargy, and depression (3).  Very few doctors regard these conditions as being allergy related, but the European White Paper already quoted recognises a close connection, and calls for wider medical training in allergic diseases and immunology (1)   Drugs are frequently sought by parents and prescribed by doctors to relieve many of the above symptoms.  But drugs are a double-edged sword, and best avoided in children, unless absolutely essential. There are other and better ways of dealing with allergic diseases in childhood, one of them being to identify and avoid the allergens, as far as possible.  I advise any parent to join one or more of the organisations listed below.  Each charges a membership fee of around £12-15 per year, and for this they offer expert advice, a wealth of published articles, information on specialist commercial products, and a newsletter with update on information:   Action Against Allergy, PO Box 279, Twickenham,  TW1 4QQ, Tel: 0208 8892 2711  Fax: 0208 892 4950 www.actionagainstallergy.co.uk National Asthma Campaign, Providence House, Providence Place, London N1 0NT, Tel: 020 7226 2260 Fax: 020 7704 0740 www.asthma.org.uk British Allergy Foundation, 20 Bellgrove Road, Welling, Kent DA 16 3PY Tel: 0208 303 8525 www.absoluteallergy.com Foresight, (the association for pre-conceptual care), 28 The Paddock, Godalming, Surrey GU7 1KD Tel: 01483 427839 www.surreyweb.net Hyperactive Childrens’ Support Group, 71 Whyke Lane, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 2LD Inside Story - a quarterly journal about food allergy and food intolerance, Berrydale House, 5 Lawn Road, London NW3 2XL Tel: 0207 722 7685 Fax: 0207 722 7685 Latex Allergy Support Group, Filey, YO14 9YH, Helpline: 07071 225838,  ( seven days a week, 7pm - 10pm) www.lasg.co.uk/ National Society for Research into Allergies, PO Box 45, Hinkley, Leicestershire, LE10 1JY Tel: 01455 250715 National Eczema Society, 163 Eversholt Street, London NW1 1BU Tel: 0207 388 4097 Fax: 0207 388 5882 www.eczema.org
	Ingested allergens   My grandmother was severely asthmatic.  Fifty years ago I recall her saying that she could not eat oranges or strawberries, and a few other things, because they gave her asthma.  The family said she was faddy, but indulged her oddities.  Now, having studied the subject,  I have no doubt that my grandmother’s asthma was in part due to food intolerance.  Today every other person you meet will tell you they are food-allergic to this or that.  Are they all faddy?  Or is there, genuinely, a huge increase in allergic reactions to commonly eaten foods?  And, if so, why?   I am of the opinion that the increase is real, and that a part (not the whole) of the cause is chemical food additives, of which there are now over 4000 in our Western diet (4).  Chemicals in water add to the total load , and so does the residue from farm spraying left on fruit and vegetables and grains.The modern way of rearing and feeding animals, fish and birds also contributes.   The health of some people greatly improves by eating only organically grown food and meats, and by having a reverse osmosis water filter fitted in the house.  It is certainly worth a try, but is unlikely to be the whole story.  The foods themselves, organically grown or not, seem to cause the trouble.  This may be because an overload of chemical additives ingested in earlier years has sensitised the body, or because the damage has been done by some other means, such as inhaled allergens.  There is always an overlap after sensitisation (see cross-reaction chart)   It must not be forgotten that virtually all prescribed drugs and patent medicines today are chemical.  We swallow a great many of these things, and so do our children, which must contribute significantly to increased food allergy and intolerance.   Food allergy is a term loosely and quite widely used.  But in fact it covers two distinct and separate conditions (5):    Food allergy proper    Food intolerance Food allergy This is comparatively rare - an example is peanut allergy.  This can be very severe, and sometimes provokes anaphylactic shock and death within a few minutes.  It is fully recognised by the medical profession, and can be diagnosed on blood test.  The only treatment is total avoidance of the allergen, and carrying an EPI-PEN at all times for use in an emergency. Food intolerance This is fairly common, and harder to understand.  It is not accepted by the medical profession, and cannot accurately be diagnosed  on blood testing.  (Incidentally, there are many commercial claims to be able to test for food intolerance.  None of them are justified.)   Food intolerance is slow to cause an allergic reaction, taking sometimes two to three days.  It is never obvious and never life-threatening, but it causes widespread chronic ill-health and debility.   The only way of detecting and treating food intolerance is a strict elimination diet for three weeks, followed by challenge re-introduction of foods, one at a time.  This is a complex procedure;  it requires great self-control, and must be carried out with scrupulous attention to detail.  Specialist guidance is necessary.   Food intolerance is nearly always associated with favourite foods, or food addiction, known as hidden or masked  food intolerance (6).  Commonly eaten foods are always the culprits: milk, wheat, corn, sugar, eggs, potatoes, coffee, chocolate, tea.  It is very hard indeed to give up favourite foods even for a short time.  For an elimination diet to be successful two golden rules must be observed (7): (1) Every trace, even microscopic particles, of an allergenic food must be eliminated from the diet in order to unmask a hidden food intolerance. (2) All potential allergens must be eliminated at the same time.  No benefit will be gained from cutting two or three allergens out of a diet, if a further two or three remain to provoke symptoms.  After five or six days on an elimination diet an improvement is usually seen, and this can become a dramatic improvement after three to four weeks.  Then challenge re-introduction can be started.  It is far from simple, and contains many unexpected pitfalls, which is why expert medical guidance is necessary.  There is s society of specialist doctors who are expert in food allergy: British Society of Allergy, Environmental and Nutritional Medicine,                     PO Box 7,                     Knighton                     Tel: 01547 550380,                     Fax: 01547 550339                     www.minotaur.org.uk The secretary will send you a list of practitioners in the UK. A qualified  nutritionist is well trained in food intolerance.  However, many people describe themselves by that title with little or no training at all.  So be careful.  Consult one of the following organisations who will give names of properly trained and qualified nutritionists in all areas of the UK:     International Federation of Clinical Nutritionists,   44 London Road,   Wembley,   Middlesex HA9 7EX   Tel: 020 8900 9005   www.info@richdales.co.uk   Institute of Optimum Nutrition,   13 Blades Court,   Deodar Road,   London SW15 2NU   Tel: 020 8877 9993   www.ion.ac.uk Do not consult anyone who is not a fully qualified  nutritionist about food intolerance.   Dieticians are not adequately trained to treat food intolerance.  However, a few dieticians have made a special study  of the subject;  Action Against Allergy  (address on page 5) can send a list of names.   If you contact any of the above societies please send a suitable donation - I suggest £5.  They are not part of the NHS and receive no state funding. SPECIAL NOTE   An elimination diet should never be attempted on a child without expert supervision.  There is increased sensitivity in the body after fasting, and on re-introduction a child can react violently, even with anaphylactic shock. The Gut Flora   Many people, particularly women, will tell you they have candida, and they get little sympathy from the medical profession, who write them off as neurotic.  Allergy specialists, who take the condition seriously, prefer the term Fungal-type Gut Disbiosis.  But this is typically long-winded, and I think the simpler name (which is short for candida albicans) will stick among lay people.   We have about thirty metres of intestine in our bodies, home to countless billions of micro-organisms, which live in a state of exquisite harmony and balance.  These micro-organisms are essential to health.  If the balance is upset, a group of organisms, the Fungal-type, (of which candida albicans is only one of many) proliferate parasitically, killing off other species of organisms.  The result can be catastrophic to the health of the host.  A relationship with  food intolerance  exists, but has not been proven.  It is thought that antibiotics, steroids, hormones, and many other drugs taken orally disturb the microscopic flora of the gut, creating conditions in which the fungal organisms can multiply - but this is widely disputed.   The finer points of argument are of no interest to most people, especially those who are feeling ill.  However, there is no doubt that large numbers of chronically ill people  improve dramatically when correctly treated for fungal overgrowth.  This entails: 1. anti-fungal drugs,  medically prescribed. 2. a strict no yeast, no dairy products, no sugar, low carbohydtrate  diet, under specialist supervision 3.   massive doses of  pro-biotics (acidophyllus bacillus) and pre-biotics (fructo-oligosaccharides - FOS) obtainable from:      Bio-care,     180 Lifford Lane,     Kings Norton,     Birmingham 8     Tel: 0121 3727     Fax: 0121 433 8705 The  Hunter-Gatherer Diet is helpful here (8).  This entails fresh meat , fish, vegetables and fruit and, strictly, no refined foods, and no yeast foods. Candida Support   There are two societies which offer advice and support to people who are afflicted  with gut disbiosis:    National Candida Society,    PO Box 151,    Orpington,    Kent  BR5 1HJ    Tel: 01689 813039                  The Candida Support Network,    Giblaston Mill,    Colinburgh,    Leven,    Fife, KY9 1JS,    Scotland    Tel: 01333 340311 Exercise Caution Due to the limitations of medical and dietetic knowledge about food intolerance, many untrained people purport  to test, diagnose and treat allergic diseases these days.  Great caution should be exercised before consulting such practitioners.  Food allergy and intolerance create biochemical changes of unimaginable complexity in the body, requiring years of study and experience to understand.  Untrained practitioners can be very dangerous.  This applies especially to the treatment of children.
	Injected Allergens There are not many injected allergens in the natural world - wasp and bee stings and snake bites are examples.  But we have now entered the era of medical injections and anaesthetics, and, for atopic people, these can be a problem because virtually all injections are made of chemical substances.  Additionally, a preservative is used to maintain the stability of the drug.  This preservative may be one of a variety of different things - such as phenol, thimerosal (a mercury derivative), formaldehyde, aluminium (9).  Even local anaesthetics, like dental injections, will contain one of  these preservatives. Overload of injected drugs can have disastrous results, and an example is Gulf War Syndrome.  A large number of unspecified drugs and vaccines were injected into healthy young soldiers, and hundreds of these men are now chronic invalids. Childhood innoculations receive a bad press these days, particularly the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) .  This is a controversial issue, and, as I grew up in the years  when polio, tuberculosis, diphtheria, scarlet fever, and whooping cough  killed or maimed thousands of children, I know and have seen the miracle of successful innoculation programmes. However, reports of  severe mental and physical damage  occurring in children after innoculation (particularly the MMR) are so numerous that they cannot be ignored.  The medical profession and the Secretary of State for Health state that there is no danger, but alarm is not so easily subdued. My own opinion - and it is a personal opinion - is that, for the vast majority of children, innoculations are safe and desirable.  However, children who show signs of an allergic disease - asthma, eczema, rhinitis, or gastric symptoms - will be at risk, and may react adversely to innoculation.  Any parent who is worried about this should contact:   Vaccination Awareness Network,   National Vaccination Information Centre,   178 Mansfield Road,   Nottingham,   NG1 3HW   Tel: 0870 444 0894   Fax: 0870 741 8415   www.van.org.uk/index.htm                                                             or     JABS    (Justice Awareness and Basic Support)    1 Gawsworth Road,    Golborne,    Nr. Warrington,    Cheshire WA3 3RF    Tel: 01942 713565   www.argonet.co.uk/users/jabs/contact.html

Inhaled Allergens The allergy volcano is erupting fast, and spewing out toxic fumes, which pollute the air we breathe.  Most people have had a nasty reaction - headaches, nausea, etc. - to something inhaled, such as paints, sprays, etc., but, for atopic people, the effects are more than just nasty.  They can be crippling. Inhaled allergens used to be natural things like pollens, hay, dust, etc.  These can be bad enough, but far worse are the man-made chemical fumes which are part of the air we breathe.  Most of these fumes can be found in the modern home.  The modern kitchen has been shown to contain more toxic chemical fumes than Oxford Circus at the height of the rush-hour! (10)   These fumes will be inhaled into the lungs, and then into the bloodstream, and dispersed throughout the body.  An allergic reaction can occur anywhere in the body, including the brain and the central nervous system.  Furthermore, inhaled allergens will interact with allergens received from other sources, (see the cross-reaction chart) and the total load will damage the immune system (11). Open windows, open fireplaces, open doors, cool, draughty houses are the only means of blowing the fumes away. The following organisation can advise on reducing allergens in the home:    The Healthy House,    Cold Harbour,    Ruscombe,    Stroud,    Glos. GL6 6DA    Tel: 01453 752216    Fax: 01453 753533    www.hhinst.com/ Also, the National Asthma Campaign, the National Eczema Society, Action Against Allergy, (addresses  on pages 5 and 6) give sensible advice on the home environment. Many smart, up-market offices are now described as sick buildings (11).  People working in them go down with headaches, mental fuzziness, lethargy, tired, aching limbs, and many other symptoms.  The cause has been traced to the myriad of toxic fumes generated within the building itself.  It is impossible for a severely atopic person to work in such a place. Anyone with an allergic disease of any sort must make an intelligent and objective assessment of their living and working environment, recognise that many of the things that surround them every day  are causing, or at least contributing to their problems, and seek advice about how best to reduce the load, from one or more of the organisations mentioned.  (At risk of boring repetition I must repeat - always send a suitable donation with any request). Heavy traffic is usually blamed for increased childhood asthma.  But study after study  shows that this is not so (1).  In fact, the Isle of Skye, with few cars, has the highest incidence of asthma in the UK.  But when I see modern low prams with babies facing forward,  nose-level to exhaust pipes of vehicles, I cannot help but wonder the damage being done.  The old fashioned high prams, with protective sides, and the baby facing the mother and away from traffic, were much safer. On the subject of babies, no-one wearing perfume or after-shave should go near a baby.  Perfumes used to be made from natural things - flowers, musk, etc.  Today they are made from chemicals (11).  If a mother wears perfume whilst breast-feeding a baby, she will be feeding the child a cocktail of chemical fumes along with her breast milk. Avoidance of inhaled allergens is the best advice one can give atopic people.  Treatments are available, and a list of specialist doctors can be obtained from BSAENM (address given on page 9). Contact Allergens This includes anything that causes an itchy rash when touched.  However, inhaled and contact allergens overlap all the time. Is a skin reaction to a cat due to touching the cat, or inhaling the fur and dander?  Is a skin reaction to latex gloves caused by touching the latex, or by inhaling glove powder, contaminated with latex - or both? (12)  No-one can answer this.   The National Eczema Society and the National Asthma Campaign  (addresses given on pages 5 and 6) can give excellent advice about contact allergens, including clothing, bedding, furniture, and much more. House dust mites are both contact and inhaled allergens, yet they are not new.  Mankind seems to have lived comfortably with the HDM for centuries, so they cannot, alone, be the cause of the explosion  in asthma and eczema in the last half century.  But apparently there are excessive numbers of these tiny creatures in our homes today, probably because they enjoy, and thrive upon, the comforts of modern living.  The HDM will die in cold conditions, so to keep doors and windows open in cold weather is good advice. The NES, the NAC, and the British Allergy Foundation (addresses on pages 5 and 6) give excellent advice on controlling the life and breeding cycle of the house dust mite, and much research is currently being undertaken. The many cleaning agents on today’s market are among the most serious contact and inhaled allergens (11).  We are mad on cleaning these days - it is an obsession to have everything around us sparkling clean - but the harm this does is seldom considered.  Cleaning used to be done with pure soaps, soda, vinegar, etc. - all harmless products.  Today all cleaning stuff is made from chemicals, which can do us infinite harm.   The residue left in clothing after washing cannot be removed, and will irritate the skin, whilst the fumes from things like fabric softeners can fill a whole house.  None of these products are labelled, so we do not know the chemical content  of any of these cleaning substances.  The Healthy House (address given on page 15)  offers alternatives, and I advise any atopic family to go for them. A contact allergen that is fast increasing in severity is latex allergy, and my paper Neo-Natal Sensitisation to Latex can be found on this website. It won the National Essay Competition of Action Against Allergy in 1998, and has been published in medical and nursing journals throughout the world.  It was even the subject of an Early Day Motion in Parliament, with a request to the Secretary of State  for Health for research into the subject, though no research is as yet forthcoming. Metals in the Body The main cause of toxic metal entering the body is mercury fillings in teeth (13). Mercury is one of the most dangerous poisons known to man, and can affect any organ in the body, including the brain and central nervous system.  There are few people who do not have mercury fillings in their teeth, and these cause no trouble for most people with a strong immune system.  Yet for anyone with an atopic disposition and a weak immune system, these fillings are dangerous.  Vapour from the mercury is inhaled all the time, and particles of the tooth filling are ground off and swallowed.  Once absorbed, the body is unable to get rid of mercury, and it can accumulate to alarming levels.  The World Health Organisation says: “There is no level of mercury exposure, however low, that can be considered harmless.  Dental amalgam accounts for the major human intake of inorganic mercury, a lethal poison when planted in the body and allowed to vapourise.  It can cross the placenta, and accumulate in the developing foetus(14). For further information, testing and treatment contact:    The British Society of Mercury Free Dentistry    221 Old Brompton Road,    London SW3 0EA    Tel: 0207 373 3655 Warning:  Removing mercury fillings from teeth must be done under protective covering and by specialist procedures.  Contact the society named above for a list of specialist dentists in all areas. Electro-magnetic waves of all frequencies It is very hard to prove sensitivity to electro-magnetic waves (1), but people affected know that exposure will provoke symptoms of illness similar to those of allergic diseases.  There must be millions of others worldwide who are ill but have no idea what is affecting them.  Cancer is connected with electro-magnetic radiation. (15) This is a complex and ill-defined area which is currently being researched.  Advice and information is given by:    The National Radiological Protection Board,    Chilton,    Didcot,    Oxon OX11 0RQ    Tel: 01235 831600   www.nrpb.org.uk/Contact.htm

Desensitisation - the good news The whole story of the rise in allergic diseases in the twentieth century is one of alarm and despondency.  Yet there is good news, and it is called Immunotherapy For most people it is possible to be desensitised to the things one is allergic to.  There are currently two methods of immunotherapy which are safe and effective.  One is called Enzyme Potentiated Desensitisation (EPD), (16) the other is the Provocation Neutralisation Technique (17) (called ‘the drops method’ because drops are given to put under the tongue).  Both methods were developed in the 1960s and are used worldwide.  To learn more about this, including addresses of practitioners, please see my paper ‘Immunotherapy - The Way Forward’ on this website.     Jennifer Worth February 2001 Jennifer Worth is a retired ward sister and midwife.  She has studied allergies, particularly food allergy and intolerance, for seven years, and is widely published on the subject. A longer version of this article first appeared in Positive Health, Issue 27 www.positivehealth.com REFERENCES       (1) EEC White Paper June 1997  266 97/0153 (COD) (2) Brostoff and Gamlin            Food Allergy and Intolerance      Randolf and Moss               Human Ecology      Richard Mackarness          Not all in the Mind                                                    Chemical Victims (3)  Doris Rapp                        Allergies and your Family                                                   Allergies and the Hyperactive Child (4)  Maurice Hansen                E is for Additives (5)  Brostoff and Gamlin          Food Allergy and Intolerance (6)  Herbert J. Rinkel                American Journal of Allergy 1942 (7)  Jennifer Worth                   Eczema and Food Allergy (8)  Richard Mackarness         Not all in the Mind (9) Journal of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine                   Vol. 10 No.4  December 2000   Editorial (10)   John Mansfield              The Asthma Epidemic (11)   Eaton and Anthony        Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (12)   Jennifer Worth               Neo-natal Sensitisation to Latex (13) World Health Organisation Report on Mercury Poisoning  1991 (14)  World Health Organisation Report  on Mercury Poisoning 1997 (15) National Radiological Protection Board.  Information Bulletin:                      ‘Electro-magnetic Fields and the Risk of Cancer’ (16)   L.E. McEwen                 EPD - a low-dose method of                                                                              Immunotherapy                                                   British Medical Journal 1967                                                                                            Controlled Trial of Hypersensitisation in Children                                         With Food Induced  Hyperkenetic Syndrome                                          Lancet 339 1992 (17)  John Mansfield          Neutralisation Therapy in Food Intolerance,                                             Inhaled Allergy and Chemical Sensitivity