If you turn on the TV at all lately, you will see many commercials of companies trying to sell you allergy medicine. I even saw one last night specifically for children. Great tasting and non-drowsy. I wonder what drug they add to make it non-drowsy. Allergy medicine is a very profitable business to be in.
“Your child has allergies.” A statement that no parent wants to hear but more and more parents are being told this. Allergies have become rampant in the United States. According to the Annual U.S. Prevalence Statistics for Chronic Diseases, one in every four Americans suffers from Asthma and allergies. That is around 75 million Americans.
Why Are They So Common?
There are many theories and explanations to the increase of asthma and allergies; from Hygiene theory to vaccinations to the increased chemicals we are exposed to. Unfortunately, none of the theories have been able to explain all the causes. What this tells us is there is probably a bit of truth to all these theories.
Of course, the best way to take care of allergies is through prevention. Most articles you read about prevention are directed at avoiding the allergen, not truly avoiding having allergies in the first place. While this article won’t focus on that topic, know that if you are pregnant or have small children there are many ways to prevent children from developing allergies. The focus of this article is what to do for someone who already suffers from these problems.
Approaches to Allergies
Currently Americans approach allergies in one of three ways:
The first way is to find out what the person is allergic or sensitive to and then avoid it. The most common tests for this is either a scratch test on the skin or a blood test to see if the person has formed antibodies to a substance. If you have ever gone through some of this testing, you know that it is not very fun and many substances a person may be allergic to may not show to be positive. Of the two tests, the blood tests are the most accurate as long as the person has been exposed to the substance recently. At Valeo Health and Wellness Center we use blood testing to determine foods that a person may be allergic to. It is especially helpful in determining gluten allergies. For many people with food allergies this option has made a huge difference.
The second way Americans deal with allergies is to treat the symptoms, typically with medicine. This comes at a cost both financially and to your health. Medications have side effects which range from drowsiness, to increased appetite, to depression and anxiety to infertility. The medications are not fixing the problem either, only treating the symptoms.
The third way of dealing with allergies is by helping the body be as healthy as possible so the effects are minimal. This can include avoiding pro-inflammatory foods, normalizing our immune system through chiropractic adjustments and nutrition, and getting proper rest.
But what if you could just eliminate allergies altogether? How can you do this? Just watch this 7 minute video to learn how.
