Treat Your Allergies at the Source

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Spring’s just around the corner—is it time to break out the picnic supplies or time to start popping antihistamines, decongestants, and steroids? Are you gearing up to plant flower beds, or are you instead practicing how to pry the tops off pill bottles?

If you suffer from allergic rhinitis, more commonly called hay fever, you’re probably focused on the latter. But these medications—which are expensive and in many cases have side effects—aren’t the only path to allergy relief.

Help for itchy eyes, headaches, sneezing, clogged sinuses, and tightness in the lungs may be as close as the colorful fruits and vegetables in your refrigerator. Air filters can help you breathe more easily at home. Nutritional supplements such as antioxidants, essential fatty acids, and anti-inflammatory herbs can quell symptoms before they start. And, best of all, a holistic allergy program can soothe your problems at their source—an imbalanced immune system.

What causes allergies?

Millions of Americans (estimates range from 10 to 17 percent of the population) suffer from allergic rhinitis. For some, the problem only occurs during one or two seasons, but for those with “perennial” allergies, the symptoms can come and go all year long.

Allergy symptoms indicate that the immune system—a complex, highly regulated system—has gotten out of balance. The symptoms resemble a bad cold that doesn’t go away. All parts of the respiratory tract can be affected, including the nose, sinuses, ears, and throat. When the lungs are involved, persistent coughing or wheezing results, a condition called asthma.

Underlying these symptoms is an inflammatory disorder—a problem that results from excessive inflammation in the body. It’s as if the eyes, nose, and lungs are “on fire.” Even though the symptoms may be confined to the respiratory tract, the whole body is involved.

In simple terms, inflammation is the normal physiologic response to injury. When inflammation occurs in response to a trauma or infection, it’s usually beneficial. For example, when a virus lands inside your nose, the immune system releases chemical signals, summoning an army of white blood cells ready to battle the invader. More blood flows to the area, raising temperature and creating swelling. This inflammatory response keeps the infection from spreading throughout the body.

Sometimes, however, the immune system overreacts. Instead of cooling off after the virus is gone, it continues to act as if it were under attack. The inflammation becomes chronic and the immune system becomes an agent of destruction. The fire gets out of control and normal tissue gets damaged.

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