A Guide to Allergy Elimination

Allergies affect over 50 million people in the United States. Allergy and asthma account for over 10 million office visit per year. So you see, if you suffer from allergies, you are not alone.

Allergy is caused by a defect in the immune system. It is chronic, which means it cannot be cured. It can be managed and thus the allergic reaction eliminated. The allergic reaction is caused when the body does not properly identify a harmless protein.

The most commonly misidentified environmental proteins are from dust mites and their feces, cockroaches, pollens, and household pets. The most common food proteins are from eggs, milk, tree nuts, peanuts, and shellfish. In the allergic person, this misidentification results in the overabundance of the human immunoglobulin E. This IgE antibody binds to two types of cells, basophils and mast cells, which are plentiful in the lungs, skin, tongue, and linings of the nose and intestinal tract. These cells then release histamines. It is the histamine that causes the hives, itchy and watery eyes, eczema, coughing, sneezing, wheezing, runny nose, stuffy nose, asthma and other allergic symptoms. This interaction between the proteins and the immune system was not well understood until 1967 when a husband and wife team of discovered IgE.

So, if you are going to eliminate the allergic reaction, you must eliminate your exposure to the allergy. With food allergy, labels must be carefully examined. Look carefully to see if the food to which you are allergic is listed. Also, many food processing plants handle many different types of foods. It is possible that your canned peaches were processed in a plant that also handles peanuts or pecans. Most labels now indicate if the most common allergy causing foods are processed in their plant. If you see this on the label, select another brand. While your saltine cracker shouldn’t have any peanuts in it, if peanuts were being processed close by, there might be small particles that floated through the air and became part of your cracker.

Allergy elimination in the home requires quite a bit of effort up front, but once you have the proper environment established it is very easy to maintain. If you have allergies to pets, try to keep them outside. If they come inside, keep them off the furniture and out of the bedroom. Fiber-rich surfaces such as carpets, upholstered furniture, curtains, and rugs should be sprayed on a regular basis with a denaturing agent such as the ADS or ADMS Spray made by the Alkaline Laboratories. These agents render the allergy causing protein harmless. In addition, you can apply a denaturing agent directly to the animal. The Allerpet Company makes a solution just for cats and dogs.

Elimination for the dust mite allergy requires a bit more work. Because the bedroom is so fiber-rich, it usually has the highest dust mite concentration in the house. That should be the first room to get your attention when on your quest for allergy elimination in your home. All carpeting should be removed from the bedroom. If this is not possible, the carpets should be treated with the ADS or ADMS Sprays. You cannot eliminate the dust mite from the mattress or pillow, so they must be encased in special mattress covers that will trap the allergens in and keep you from being exposed while you sleep. These covers are made from special fabrics and are available from special mail order companies or can be ordered on-line from such companies as AllergyStore.com. Curtains should be removed and hard surface blinds hung in their place. The blinds as well as the other contents of the room should be dusted weekly. It is preferable to use a damp cloth or micro fiber duster treated with AllerDust spray when dusting. This will keep the dust particles from becoming air-borne as you clean. The number of books, knick-knacks, and other items sitting out should be kept to a minimum. This reduces the number of surfaces on which dust can settle and makes it easy to clean the room once a week.

The bed should be stripped every 7 days and the sheets, blankets, and pillow cases washed in 140°F water. If you are unable to achieve water this hot at home, you can either take your bedding to a commercial establishment or you can launder at home with either the De-Mite laundry additive or the Alkaline Labs Allergen Wash. Either of these will eliminate the dust mite allergens in much cooler wash temperatures.

As you can see, allergy elimination is about eliminating the allergy-causing substance. Once you do this, you will eliminate the need for the medications and doctor visits.
 

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