Asthma and Allergies

Asthma and allergies are not produced by a single irritant, but by an accumulation of minor irritants that eventually overwhelm the bodys ability to adapt. It is not a huge leap to imagine that removing a respiratory irritant from the sleeping environment, where a person spends one third of their time, is going to produce an improvement in a childs ability to breathe. Allergy and asthma are conditions that go hand in hand. Over 50 percent of asthmatics have their triggers in allergic reactions to their environment and diet. Asthma related allergies are common problems in children. One out of ten children in Hong Kong have asthma, and up to 40% of children have an allergy.

These asthma and allergy conditions are mostly discussed among those crippling diseases. Few drugs and vaccines can treat asthma to some extent by alleviating the troublesome symptoms, other than that allergies are on the rise. Studies have shown that food allergies in children have doubled in the last 5 years! Asthma and allergies are often connected to this problem. Most asthma patients are allergic to one or more allergens such as pollens, molds, pet dander, house dust mites and cockroaches.

Asthma and allergies are among the most annoying and even disabling common health problems. About 36 million Americans suffer from some kind of allergy, and about 17 million people have asthma. It is a condition of epidemic proportion in our children’s lives and getting worse, due to the toxins floating in our environment. The prescribed medications given for those problems speed up their hearts and suppress the immune system making it impossible to get better, when they should normalize their immune system instead. Asthma and allergies are frequently under treated by both physicians and patients during pregnancy. This may be due to the fear of adverse effects medication may have on the fetus.

Exposure to cockroach allergen, a protein found in their feces, is linked to wheezing and asthma. Research has found that a child may be most vulnerable to cockroach allergen in the first three months of life. Exposures in utero occurring during the critical periods for organogenesis have the potential to produce long-lasting effects. Postnatal organ function can be profoundly affected by in utero exposures.

Symptoms of asthma may first appear long after beginning work with animals. Laboratory animal allergy usually develops within 36 months of starting exposure, and most cases develop after 6 to 36 months of exposure. Symptoms of asthma include wheezing, shortness of breath, a feeling of tightness in the chest, and coughing. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 8.7 percent of all children (6.3 million) had asthma in 2001. Symptoms may get worse and include wheezing, shortness of breath (SOB) and increased respiratory rate, which may look like asthma symptoms, but is not asthma.