More on Allergies and Asthma

by Dave Carpenter, N.D., C. Ac, CCI

What causes allergies and asthma? Is the cause inherited? Is it diet related? Too much or too little of something? I don’t claim to have all of the answers, but I do have some ideas on the subject that I hope you’ll find helpful.

A recent study found that when a child was given antibiotics three or more times during the first year of life, he or she has a 400% increased risk of developing asthma compared to a child who didn’t receive any antibiotics. When antibiotics were given twice during the first year the risk was only 225% greater. If the child was lucky enough to have the first antibiotic after their first birthday the risk of asthma was increased by “only” 64%. (Clinical Exp. Allergy 99;29:766-771)

With all of the immunizations and other medications children now receive it’s becoming easier to understand why there is more asthma and allergies than ever. The study on the effect of antibiotics on children should be a wakeup call to all of us. I’ve mentioned many studies on the effects of childhood immunizations before, but I believe we as parents must be informed if we are going to help our children to survive in this new world of chemicals and artificial “everything’s”. Our society has been brainwashed into thinking that there is a medicine for everything out there that comes along. And, sadly, most parents think they are doing their children a favor when using these medicines, but the truth is that they are setting them up for even bigger, more serious health problems down the road.

When a child is born he or she has a sterile GI tract. By the time he or she becomes an adult they have somewhere between 4 and 5 pounds of intestinal flora (bacteria, etc.) which helps them digest the foods they eat. Both “friendly” bacteria and also “unfriendly” bacteria can live in the GI tract so it is very important to maintain an environment that promotes the healthy reproduction of the “friendly” ones. Antibiotics and many other medications upset this balance, allowing the “unfriendlies” to flourish and causing all kinds of health problems as time goes on. This imbalance in the bowel is a main cause of allergies and the consequential asthma problems many people experience.

Another problem causing allergies is the body’s reaction to some of the foods we eat. I think that Dr. D’ Adamo has clearly shown that foods can cause a reaction when the lectins in the food are incompatible with the antigens in the blood. That is why so many people have found that following the Eat 4 Your Type diet has helped them with their allergies and asthma conditions. Eliminating the “avoid” foods on the list will reduce the overload on your immune system, aid in bowel function, and reduce the allergy or asthmatic symptoms. Taking a good Probiotic (friendly bacteria cultures) can be extremely helpful too.

A third area that must be looked at is dehydration. Since we all learned way back in about 3rd grade that 70% of our body is made up of water you would think that we would understand this but most of us don’t. Increasing your water intake (I didn’t say pop intake) will help hydrate the cells, allowing them to eliminate the metabolic wastes easier and more quickly. A good rule of thumb is to drink between 1/4 and 1/2 ounce of water for every pound of body weight per day. 

If you are having these types of problems here’s a few supplements that can make a difference. Herbals which always seem to help are AL-J, AL-C, and there are Allergy homeopathics (some of these are very specific to the substances causing the allergy so let’s talk about your specific allergy before deciding on one for you) which work too. All of these products have worked extremely well for people suffering from allergies.

For asthma I’d recommend you consider using the herbs Mullein, Blue Vervain, Cramp bark, Garlic, Horehound, Boneset, Pleurisy root, or Slippery Elm. Many of these herbs are found in the combinations that I often recommend, such as BRN-AV, ALJ, LH, and LH-C. These have proven very helpful to people who’ve used them over the years. Also, have your acupuncturist treat LH-1 (a grief release point) which has helped folks with this problem tremendously as well.

A British study of 104 children with asthma between the ages of 7-9 revealed that inhaled steroid treatment offers no clinically significant benefits. In the study the children were randomly assigned either twice daily beclomethasone dipropionate 200 ug or a placebo through a Diskhaler for 6 months. At the end of the trial period, there were no significant differences in the percentage of days without symptoms or in the frequency or duration of wheezing episodes between the two groups. Wheezing is often the result of a viral infection and thus would not be helped by steroids anyway. (BMJ,1997;315:858-62)

One other cause of allergies and asthma is the imbalance of Essential Fatty Acids we get in our diet. Most of us do not get enough of the Omega 3 EFA’s and this causes us to have allergies as well. Adding flaxseed oil to one’s diet usually corrects this problem over a period of several months.

Dietary Lectins May Be The Cause of Allergies & Chronic Diseases

Lectins, the carbohydrate binding proteins present in most plants, could be the cause of many chronic diseases, according to British allergist Dr. David Freed. Lectins are known to be toxic and inflammatory and aren’t readily destroyed by enzymes or cooking. But, from his research, Dr. Freed has concluded that these proteins are able to get past the gut wall and deposit themselves in distant organs.

According to Dr. Freed, recognition of the role which lectins play in ill health could drastically alter the way we approach healthcare. For instance, the lectins present in tomatoes, potatoes, peanuts and wheat have been implicated in autoimmune dysfunction. Specifically, those in wheat and soya are potential causes of insulin-dependent diabetes. (Note: Dr. D’Adamo and his father have taken this much farther over the past 40 plus years, but it’s interesting to see where Dr. Freed’s work is taking us).

Another suspect in lectin disease is rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Wheat is one of the commonest triggers in diet-responsive RA. The wheat lectin binds to the necessary sugar N-acetyl glucosamine and makes it unavailable to RA sufferers. This may be one reason why so many sufferers have found glucosamine sulphate helpful as an anti-arthritic.

Lectins also can strip away the mucous coating of the small intestine, leaving it open to bacterial and protozoal infection. They can also stimulate stomach acid secretion. Not surprisingly, they have also been linked in research to peptic ulcers. Last, but not least, lectins are powerful allergens. (BMJ,1999;318:1023-4).

Lectins and toxins are the reason that different foods effect different people in different ways. The information from Dr. Freed in England confirms this concept more. I believe that when the body gets overwhelmed, by these lectins and the resulting agglutination process or reaction, it is much more susceptible to foreign invaders such as parasites, virus’, bacteria, protozoa, etc. One of the keys to staying healthy is to eat those foods which are alkalizing and that do not cause these reactions by the immune system. Take a serious look at the Alkalizing 4 Health plan to get you turned around as quickly as you’d like to.