Allergies​—What Can Be Done?

JOYCE sneezes endlessly every August. Her husband once went into shock and almost died after eating crabs. One of their sons has a problem with wheezing when exerting himself, and a daughter broke out in hives the last time she was given penicillin.

Happily, Joyce’s family is not typical of the average household. But consider the magnitude of the allergy problem in just one country, the United States. There, 17 percent of the population are said to have significant allergies, representing the largest segment of those with chronic diseases. Furthermore, the number of ailments diagnosed as allergies is undoubtedly going to rise as our environment becomes more complex and polluted.

The fact that many people are hypersensitive to things in their environment is a relatively recent discovery. Yet, four centuries before the birth of Christ, Hippocrates described an illness that we today recognize as asthma. Perhaps the earliest record of a fatal allergic reaction was discovered on the tomb of an ancient Egyptian king, Menes. He died after being stung by a hornet.

Dr. John Bostock of England, who lived in the early 1800’s, is believed to have been the first to use the expression “hay fever,” after noticing that he regularly had a summer “cold.” In 1906 an Austrian pediatrician proposed the word “allergy,” derived from two Greek words that can roughly be translated ‘altered responses.’

Allergens and Antibodies

It is this altered response that causes the problem in allergic individuals. From birth we inhale, swallow, and touch many things that are foreign to our bodies. For most of us this contact seems to be harmless. But if someone who has an allergy breathes in, swallows, or touches even a minute amount of the substance to which he is unusually sensitive, he will develop specific symptoms. The substances that cause allergic reactions are known as allergens.

Some common allergens are:

• Inhalants​—pollens, dust, mold, and dog and cat dander.

• Ingestants​—eggs, chocolate, nuts, shellfish, milk, antibiotics, and aspirin.

• Contactants​—poison ivy, dyes, metals, wool, and cosmetics.

• Injectants​—bee and wasp stings, and penicillin.

These are only a few of the many allergens. In fact, the number seems limitless.

What happens, though, that causes allergic reactions? Normally, you produce in your body substances called antibodies, to fight off invaders, such as germs. If you are allergic, these defense mechanisms overreact. They attack foreign substances, such as those allergens listed above. A specific type of antibody, IgE, is overproduced in your body, causing dramatic results when it meets an offending allergen. The reaction causes a release of chemicals such as histamine. Histamine causes your nose to swell and your eyes to itch.

Why, Why, Why?

A major question of any allergy sufferer is, “Why me?” All the answers are not known. We do know that heredity is an important factor. One study shows that 80 percent of hay-fever sufferers have a family history of this allergy. Although the tendency is inherited, the specific allergy need not be​—a parent may have asthma, but the child may have hay fever.

It is also generally agreed that emotional stress, such as tension, overwork, fatigue, fright, and extreme anger, can prompt allergies. But whether psychosomatic factors alone can actually cause an allergy to develop is a question that needs more study.

Then, of course, there is the factor of the increasingly complex environment with its many pollutants. How much this contributes to the increase in allergies is unknown, but there is no question about the ill effect that polluted air has on asthma sufferers.

Gloria is a middle-aged asthmatic who lives in a big city laden with pollution. For the past 14 years asthma has plagued her. She wheezes as she speaks: “When an attack occurs I can’t breathe, and it frightens me. Yesterday someone called me, and I couldn’t even answer the phone because I couldn’t speak. So I let the phone ring.”

The healthy may find it hard to believe that an allergy can severely affect someone. Incredulous looks and other similar responses often confront the sufferer whenever he talks about his problem of allergic reactions, whether it be asthma or another allergy. “It is very difficult for others to understand this problem,” says one allergy sufferer from Canada. “We need kindness, too, instead of suspicion and unkind words.”

If you regularly entertain guests in your house, you may want to give kind consideration to those who suffer from allergies and try to eliminate the source of their discomfort.

What Can Be Done?

The term “allergies” encompasses several different recognized diseases. So let’s take a brief look at these conditions and see what can be done about them.

Asthma is the most serious of all the allergic diseases and is still a killer, although many who suffer from it can lead normal lives. The free movement of air in and out of the lungs is blocked​—thus the typical wheezing during an attack. The problem can be curbed through prevention​—removing the known allergens from the home or work environment and doing breathing exercises. Moreover, there have been several recent advances in treatment, both with tablets and with inhalers. The asthmatic patient should be encouraged to be as active as possible without overexertion. Relatives and friends must resist the temptation to overprotect the person who has asthma.

Hay Fever is the most common allergic reaction. Although hay fever is not generally dangerous, when it is severe the patient suffers greatly. “Hay fever” is a misleading name, for hay is not responsible for the symptoms. Pollen, or at times mold, generally is, and the patient rarely has an actual fever. Hay fever usually occurs in either spring or fall when grasses, weeds, or trees are flowering. Antihistamines and inhalants may control the worst symptoms.

Perennial Allergic Rhinitis is a condition of year-round nasal irritation and may include the common annoyance of a runny or stopped-up nose. Children are often affected, leading their parents mistakenly to believe that the children are repeatedly catching cold. The most common causes are house dust, animal dander, and molds. Skin tests may be helpful here, but the results can be misleading. So regard these tests only as aids in identifying possible allergens. The best treatment for this illness is avoidance of the allergen whenever possible, which may mean getting rid of the family pet. Or special precautions may be necessary in the home to lessen the dust, which easily accumulates on mattresses, rugs, stuffed toys, and similar things.

Dermatitis is an inflammation of the skin marked by redness, blistering, oozing, or crusting. Today the word “eczema” is synonymous with chronic dermatitis. At home and at work, the skin is exposed to all kinds of irritants, and normally it is able to resist their harmful effects. But some of these substances lead to allergic reactions in certain people, and the number of such substances is increasing as new products and compounds are developed. In treating contact dermatitis, first remove the offending allergen.

Hives are raised, itching welts that appear suddenly on the skin, usually remain for a few hours, and then disappear as mysteriously as they came. In some cases they appear intermittently for months before disappearing. They may be caused by many things, such as cold, heat, and anxiety, as well as a wide variety of allergens. They are the bane of the allergist because the actual cause is hard to identify. “Anti-itch” medicine may be used until the hives disappear.

Bites, Stings may cause hives, fainting, breathing difficulties, and even death to an allergic person. Tips to help you avoid being stung are: When out-of-doors, don’t walk barefoot; avoid hair sprays, perfumes, or lotions, which may attract wasps; wear light rather than dark clothing. If you do get stung, apply ice to lessen the absorption of venom and remove the stinger as carefully as possible. For those who are very allergic to stings, specific desensitization is now available.

Food Allergy is a controversial allergic disease and the most difficult to pinpoint and treat. It goes without saying that foods can and do bother many people in different ways, and yet the cause may or may not be food allergy. Some experts believe that true food allergy is rare; yet almost any food can be an allergen to somebody. Unfortunately, skin tests are generally of questionable value in diagnosing food allergy. The most effective treatment is to isolate the offending food and then not to eat it.

Drug Allergy has become worse in recent years. Allergic reactions to medications are baffling. Reactions vary and may be so serious as to cause death. If you sense a drug allergy, discuss it with your doctor.

Although we already know a lot about allergy, and scientists have made considerable progress in the past decade, there is still much to discover. It is very possible that many of these discoveries will have to wait for God’s New Order. Mankind will then be brought back to perfection, and the causes, whatever they may be, of this complex illness will be permanently eradicated.​—Isaiah 33:24.