Allergy

The broad-spectrum of how allergies manifest and the variety of symptoms they cause are often unrecognized by patients and their physicians.That is one of the reasons why our clinic focuses on identifying the underlying allergies that are causing and/or contributing to your health problems.

Part of the immune system's role is to protect the body from infections by various microorganisms, but sometimes it overreacts to what is typically a harmless substance.  This overreaction is known as an allergic reaction.  Common airborne or inhalant allergens include pollen, dust, dust mite, mold, animal dander. The classic example of inhalant allergy is hayfever when people develop symptoms such as sneezing, nasal congestion, itchy eyes and asthma because of allergy to pollen.

Allergy symptoms seem to be predominantly caused by the release of histamine, hence, the use of antihistamines to treat allergy. You might be surprised to know that allergic reactions also release numerous other inflammatory mediators.  In other words, allergic reactions are inflammatory reactions and all of our tissues and  organs are susceptible to inflammation:

• Inflammation in the nose causes congestion
• Inflammation of the lungs-asthma
• Inflammation in the gut-"irritable bowel syndrome"
• Inflammation of the joints and muscles-arthritis and myalgia
• In the brain-mental fogginess, memory impairment, mood swings

Chronic untreated inflammation can lead to chronic disease and this is one of the reasons why identifying, avoiding and treating allergies is of utmost importance. Even cardiovascular disease has been clearly recognized as having a major inflammatory component.

So from both a health improvement and disease prevention viewpoint, allergy evaluation, identification and treatment can be extremely beneficial.