Allergies and Your Environment

Allergies

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Van D. Merkle, DC, CCN, DACBN, DABCI

Andrew R. Dyer, DC

Tracey C. Merkle

Springtime means the start of little league games, gardening, long walks

with your dog, and for at least one in five Americans, itchy watery eyes,

sneezes, runny noses, swelling, nasal congestion and a slew of other allergy

related symptoms. But before you start pointing fingers at pollen, grass,

weeds and molds for bringing on these maladies, take a look at your

immune system.

The pollen, dust and mold are actually just harmless substances in our

environment which some immune systems inappropriately target as

dangerous invaders. To protect the body, white blood cells called mast cells

and basophils are activated to fight off the invaders leading to an extreme

inflammatory response and the release of a chemical called histamine into

the blood stream. This immune system malfunction causes your common

allergy symptoms like watery eyes, swelling and mucus production.

Amazingly, most people simply suffer through these symptoms year after

year or mask the problem with over the counter medications or allergy

shots but we need to realize that this problem is not going away. In fact, it

is getting worse. An estimated 50 million Americans suffer from allergies

and this number has been climbing for the past two decades among all

races and ages. It’s currently the 5th leading chronic disease in the U.S. for

adults and 3rd for children with 10,000 kids missing school due to allergies

on any given day for an annual total of 2 million lost school days.

Why is this disease on the rise, especially among children? Interestingly it

doesn’t appear to be hereditary as many people assume. While genetic

factors can be linked to susceptibility, the massive allergy diagnosis

increases occurring in such a short time span more readily suggest

environmental or lifestyle changes. Thus, allergies may be linked to a more

germ-a-phobic society and the increased usage of antibiotics or other

immune system related drugs.

Studies show that individuals who live in too sterile environment are not

exposed to enough pathogens and endotoxins, thus normally benign

microbial objects like pollen will trigger an immune response. Researchers

found that children who grow up with siblings, who enter daycare at an

early age or who live on farms were less likely to develop allergies because

they were exposed to a multitude of pathogens and endotoxins leading to a

stronger immune system.

Evidence suggests that priming of the immune responses against allergens

starts happening in utero and is thus affected by the mother’s environment.

In addition, early life exposure to normal microbial flora primes the

immune system for a non-allergic phenotype.

The use of anti-bacterial cleaning products may also be linked to

autoimmune dysfunction. An article published in the American Journal of

Respiratory and Critical Care Management found that the weekly use of

household cleaning sprays put participants at an increased risk of asthma

related symptoms with an even higher incidence among people using the

sprays four times weekly.

Epidemiological data also supports the “hygiene hypothesis”. Studies have

shown that various immunological and autoimmune diseases are much less

common in the developing world than the industrialized world and studies in

third world countries demonstrate an increase in immunological disorders,

like allergies, as a country grows more affluent and presumably cleaner.

Today’s society relies heavily on medications which have also been shown

to cause autoimmune problems. The use of antibiotics in the first year of life

has been linked to asthma and other allergic diseases. Scientists at the

University of Michigan Medical School found that antibiotics may be

responsible for producing changes in microbes in the GI tract, which in turn

impacts the way the immune system responds to airborne allergens.

Sadly our response to increased allergy symptoms frequently includes

upping our medication intake. The main problem with this approach is that

antihistamines simply chase the symptoms without getting to the root of the

problem. Allergy shots are somewhat effective against airborne allergens

however the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology does

not recommend this treatment when it comes to other types of allergy

triggers - such as food allergies and skin reactions. These shots also require

extensive skin tests followed by years of bi-weekly or monthly shots.

Instead of suffering with each season change, consider getting a blood workup

to isolate and correct any imbalances/deficiencies which can increase

your immune system’s likelihood of misfiring. It is essential to get a

complete work-up because simply testing your white blood cell counts will

miss the problem. You already have the allergy symptoms, which suggests

higher white blood count levels but what about your protein levels? That’s

right; protein plays a part in allergies.

The immune system utilizes protein-based substances to defend the body

against germs, allergens and invaders. If you are protein deficient, the body

will not have the resources to create roadblocks against diseases.

Without knowing what parts of the body are not working, how can you

expect to correct the problem?