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Allergies are the expression of our body's response to significant changes and to the dangers that we come in contact with. A truly effective cure is one that restores equilibrium and immunological (and perhaps even social!) tolerance.
What is normalcy? More and more studies try to figure out why and how we become allergic.
Our body comes into continual contact with an incredible number of allergenic substances through food, respiration and skin contact, but it elaborates them instantly. By way of an active and well-defined system, it learns to tolerate these substances, exploit them if necessary (as in the case of food), and withstand harm.
Even though we are "allergic" to everything (as Kent HayGlass recently stated), immunological tolerance is the process that keeps us from expressing allergies, that is, we don't have asthma, dermatitis, rhinitis or any other disturbance.
Last March the Dutch publication B.N. Lambrecht (Allergy 2005:60;271-282) released an article on dendritic cells, those cells that perform one of the most important activities in the birth and regulation of allergic phenomena.
They encounter allergenic substances, warn the central structures and together they activate cells and immunological substances that prevent an allergic reaction thanks to a global equilibrium of the system.
However, in some particular conditions, this regulation fails, and instead of a tolerance response, the typical allergic reactions develop. The conditions in which this occurs helps us to understand what allergy means:
- Presence of severe inflammation
- Simultaneous viral or bacterial infections
- Presence of environmental toxins (mercury, for example)
- Increase of intestinal permeability due to overuse of antibiotics
- Increase in vital stress (as explained by Dr. Rita Levi Montalcini)
- Absence of some fundamental minerals such as Zinc and Copper.
This brings us back to the possible causes that lead to chronic inflammation , such as food intolerances that result from an excessive use of the same substances, the kind of diet that encourages obesity, the lack of physical activity and the absence of vital substances in the diet .
Mankind evolved slowly in time, but it's the acceleration in development of the past fifty years that led to the presence of drugs, chemical substances, toxins, OGM products and foods with characteristics that are much different from the original ones. This led to an overstepping of our bodies' ability for adaptation.
Fortunately there exists an adaptability threshold that allows us to survive, but we often exceed this level Allergies are truly an alarm signal by the body that we all must know how to interpret.
Pollens don't have fangs
The conditions that lead to loss of tolerance express the existence of a strong alteration and a state of danger for the body. Every human being is able to adapt (and evolution has rewarded him in this) but change always represents a possible risk; in the history of an individual and of men, allergy has become a "signal" that warns of this possibility.
Pollen is not an explosive, the same pollen that sends one person to the emergency room doesn't cause any harm to another. It's always a question of internal equilibrium, and by now we know that an allergy that seems limited to the nose (the classic hay fever due to pollen in the spring) in reality involves the entire immune system of an individual.
Recently, these themes were elaborated by important scientists like Polly Matzinger ("The Danger Model") and Margie Profet ("nothing against those who sneeze...") with scientific research that involves evolution, immunology, epidemiology, neurology and philosophy, areas to which we will dedicate specific in-depth analysis in the future.
Eurosalus has already submitted an analysis on the relationship between social fear and the increase in allergic reaction in relation to recent wars on the international scene.
The cure: behavior and tolerance versus useful but incomplete medicines!
If allergy is the signal that tolerance is lacking, it must be cured by helping the body to recover immunological tolerance. We must change our behavior after we have understood where the perceptions of danger (as described by Dr. Montalcini) originate in our life.
One can regain immunological tolerance, particularly with low-dosage vaccines (look at the examples of chronic rhinitis and seasonal rhino-conjunctivitis), and there are also numerous forms of ecological and natural therapies.
The use of classic chemical drugs (cortisone, antihistamines, spray inhalers, beta stimulants), that are fortunately available to us, must be integrated into a global recovery project. They are effective (with the exception of antileucotrieni) and quite useful in dealing with acute situations, but these are symptomatic drugs. Let's use them if they are necessary, but only as temporary aids.
The real therapeutic action must spring from a reflection on an individual's dietary and living habits. We need to cure allergies while keeping in mind the fact that they signal a disturbance that, if left unheeded, will lead to even more severe problems.
Healthy eating habits and a change in some behavior patterns, with respect for the individual, not only help cure the allergies, but also diabetes, depression, Alzheimer, osteoporosis, some demyelinating illnesses and cancer.
The pursuit of individual equilibrium represents the path to global health and significant prevention.
The recovery of immunological, human and social tolerance this is a wish for good health that we send out to everyone.
Doctor Attilio Speciani
Clinical Allergist and Immunologist
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