This time of year always brings with it the woes of Seasonal Allergies, Allergic Rhinitis, Food Allergies and good old-fashioned Hay Fever. I use the description flippantly because Hay Fever isn't so old-fashioned is it? Whilst there have always been some people who have had allergic reactions of one degree and another to allergens, over the 30+ years I have been in practice I have seen an explosion in allergies, and especially the severest forms including anaphylactic shock. Why?
This is where the detective work comes in. On close questioning, a parent who tells you that her child has “always” reacted will say that actually the baby was fine up until 3, 4 or 6 months etc. So why would a child have no allergy then suddenly have one?
I have come to a number of conclusions personally:
Babies are introduced to solids too early. I agree with Dr Vogel of Switzerland who believed that our bodies tell us when our digestive system is ready for solid food in a very simple and direct manner – we produce teeth! By giving a baby “soft food”, especially peanut butter, before the gut is prepared to cope with it, it is small wonder that the body revolts.
- I have observed that the onset of milk and dairy allergies, (as well as more tragic and drastic condition such as Asperger’s and Autism.) can be traced to an early inoculation. This shouldn’t surprise us. If, as I surmise, the gut is going to revolt at the ingestion of solids before it is ready, how much more so should we expect to see a reaction when a vaccine which has been cultured in a milk serum-like base is injected directly into the bloodstream?
- Hay Fever on the other hand is a different kettle of fish. Patients who appear to have no other clue symptoms present with Hay Fever in its various forms including itching palate, streaming eyes, sneezing, hay asthma etc. What I have observed with regard to Hay Fever is it’s strange periodicity. What I mean is that it seems to run in a seven-year cycle. Hay Fever can suddenly start at the age of 7, 14, 21 etc and the same continues through into adulthood. Equally it can disappear on or around a seventh year.
This is purely empirical observation, I have no logical explanation as to why, and others may disagree. I merely present it as what I have observed.
In our next post we will take a closer look at treatment of possibly the most common allergy of them all: Hayfever.