The word allergy is used to describe an abnormal reaction (allergic reaction) by an individual to a normally harmless substance called an allergen. This abnormal reaction is created by the body's immune system. The critical message: An allergy is an immune system disorder.

This is very important as the common approach when dealing with an allergy is to blame the allergen. But if 100 individuals drank orange juice and one person had an allergic reaction, why blame the orange juice? The real culprit is the abnormal immune system of that one individual. The immune system causes the body to release certain chemicals like histamine that cause allergy symptoms.

It is also important to note that just because there is a relationship between exposure to a substance and the development of symptoms, it does not always mean that a person is allergic to that substance. For example, if you feel unwell after taking a particular medication that does not mean that you are allergic to it. Medicines have known and unknown side effects and these side effects are not necessarily allergic i.e. they may not involve the immune system. So, not everyone who fainted after having a penicillin injection is allergic to penicillin.

I have also found that allergies are not necessarily permanent conditions. One can be allergic to something at one time and find that it no longer exists later. You are not stuck with your allergy.

A HOLISTIC APPROACH

- Identify the underlying cause

The immune system is the body's defence system and is meant to protect us from unhealthy agents and substances in our environment. Small wonder, therefore, that the immune system is most powerfully developed in areas where our bodies make most contact with the outside world - the skin, the respiratory tract from nostrils to lungs and the digestive system.

Did you know that more than 70 per cent of the body's immune system is found in the digestive tract? It is called GALT - Gut Associated Lymphoid Tissue. And with good reason, in your lifetime, you may consume up to 100,000 thousand pounds of food and drink with lots of unhealthy chemicals added. That may account for much of our food allergies.

What about the respiratory allergies - asthma, sinusitis, rhinitis etc? On average, we breathe 368 million times in a lifetime moving 1.3 billion litres of air in and out of our airways and lungs with lots of modern chemicals and contaminants.

The skin is our largest organ and is the major wall that protects us from the potentially hostile world in which we live. There are hundreds of thousands of man-made chemicals at large in our air and water today. It is, therefore, no surprise that allergies often manifest as irritations to the skin.

Can the tremendous increase in our exposure to allergens give rise to an immune system that is constantly on high alert anticipating bad things? Could that cause it to overreact and create allergies? This is in my opinion the major issue - man-made contamination of our food, water and air. Some germs and parasites may also play some role.

Interestingly, in industrialised countries, allergic diseases are more common than in countries that are less developed and there are more allergies in urban populations than rural populations.

Don't just treat symptoms

The shelves of our pharmacies are lined with products to treat the symptoms of allergies of the skin, the respiratory and the digestive systems. They do not address the underlying cause and thus give only temporary relief and are often totally ineffective.

In my opinion, symptom relief may be necessary in the short term but harmful in the long term. Patients often become dependent on their medication, suffer from numerous side effects, and most important, they worsen their overall health by constantly suppressing the immune system.

Symptoms actually have value. A runny nose is the body's effort to wash out the irritants from the passages while stuffiness and spasms may be its attempt to prevent more harmful stuff from being inhaled. A cough and a sneeze are tools for expelling unhealthy air. Diarrhoea and vomiting reflect the body purging itself. Skin rashes and itches give us powerful warnings that we may be in contact with something harmful. We should not just treat symptoms.

Work with your body

Avoid things that irritated the immune system.

Clean up your diet - avoid harmful chemicals, eat lots of fruit and vegetables, and drink lots of clean water. Clean up your environment - avoid dust, smoke, chemicals and radiation.

Balance the immune system with supplements.

Take healthy dietary supplementation - cellular nutrition.

Use lots of antioxidants - A, C, E, S, schizandra, rosox, echinacea, pycnogenol. Omega-3 fats assist in controlling and preventing inflammation.

Detoxify the body

Do a digestive cleanse using aloe, fibre, probiotics and colon hydrotherapy. Cleanse the nasal passages and sinuses with a neti pot cleanse and steam inhalation. Detoxify through the skin using saunas and sunbaths.

Manage stress

Chronic stress damages the immune system. Learn relaxation exercises and deep breathing techniques.

WARNING

Treating allergies with drugs that only mask the symptoms may not only be ineffective but may set the stage for an even more dangerous set of immune system problems - the autoimmune diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. More about these dreaded conditions in another article.

Email Dr Anthony Vendryes at vendryes@mac.com, visit him at www.anounceofprevention.org or listen to 'An Ounce of Prevention' on Power 106FM on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. His book, 'An Ounce of Prevention', is available from the Vendryes Wellness Centre and from Sangster's Book Stores.