Allergy, Food & the Environment

The ear, nose and throat are the most common target organs for allergens. Congestion or inflammation of the nose, sinuses and throat may be due to airborne irritants and allergens; however, food allergy may be the undiagnosed cause of these common problems. 

Food allergy is suggested by chronic respiratory symptoms: nasal stuffiness, snoring, increased mucus flow in nose and throat, and recurrent sore throats. Recurrent middle ear "infections" are very common in the first five years of life and may be eliminated by proper diet revision.

Hay Fever and Allergy Ads

Hay fever is the most clear-cut case of allergy. Ads for antihistamines proclaim the simplest mechanism of allergy:

• an inhaled allergen (antigen), grass pollen, meets antibody-coated mast cells waiting in the mucosal surface of the nose

• a typical hay fever attack with sneezing, itching, and nose congestion results.

Hay fever is the prototype of Type I allergy. The mechanism was thought to be a straight forward histamine-mediated response to inhaled antigen. 

Drugs that block histamine are effective in relieving hay fever symptoms. The early, immediate response is characterized by sneezing and anterior nasal discharge, often profuse.

Allergy  Rescue Starter Pack