Hello! Probably that most important disease that brings 00:00:01.98\00:00:08.42 people to the doctor above all others is allergies 00:00:08.45\00:00:12.88 and while we may grin and say yea, lots of folks have 00:00:12.91\00:00:18.09 allergies, not very big but actually allergies can be 00:00:18.12\00:00:22.43 life threatening, but most of the time when we deal with 00:00:22.46\00:00:25.64 the allergies they are just uncomfortable. 00:00:25.67\00:00:27.85 We would like to talk about allergies in this program 00:00:27.88\00:00:31.10 and so we hope you will stay with us, we think you will 00:00:31.13\00:00:34.17 enjoy it and we believe you will learn some new things. 00:00:34.20\00:00:37.01 Welcome to Help Yourself to Health 00:00:57.52\00:00:59.65 with Dr. Agatha Thrash of Uchee Pines Institute 00:00:59.68\00:01:02.88 and now here is your host Dr. Thrash. 00:01:02.91\00:01:06.00 From time to time we learn something really big about 00:01:06.03\00:01:13.23 allergies and about the immune system, because allergies depend 00:01:13.26\00:01:18.80 on the immune system for their response. 00:01:18.83\00:01:21.34 Now we might think well the immune system if it were perfect 00:01:21.37\00:01:26.29 it would not allow us to have allergies, but in one sense 00:01:26.32\00:01:31.90 we require allergies in order that we can develop an immunity 00:01:31.93\00:01:36.61 against things that could threaten and kill us, 00:01:36.64\00:01:41.04 and so as we study these things we can be thrilled by the wise 00:01:41.07\00:01:47.17 design that our divine designer made for us. 00:01:47.21\00:01:51.06 Now some of the things that we look at the most and think 00:01:51.09\00:01:55.42 this thing is likely to cause an allergy is that of foods. 00:01:55.45\00:02:00.80 We take in a little bit of air all the time, we take in a lot 00:02:00.83\00:02:05.26 of food, we take in a lot of water every day, 00:02:05.29\00:02:09.58 we don't breathe substances in the air that we breathe in 00:02:09.61\00:02:16.60 and we might think well pollens that represents our biggest 00:02:16.63\00:02:20.24 allergenic substance does it not, and the answer is no 00:02:20.27\00:02:24.38 air borne pollutants are not our biggest allergenic substances 00:02:24.41\00:02:30.07 but our food, so I have asked Rhonda Clark who has done a 00:02:30.10\00:02:34.07 study on this, Rhonda welcome to this program. 00:02:34.10\00:02:36.79 - Thank you! 00:02:36.82\00:02:37.80 - And I am looking forward to hearing what you have to say 00:02:37.83\00:02:41.23 on food allergies and how they affect us. 00:02:41.26\00:02:44.26 - Yes, I'm glad to share. 00:02:44.29\00:02:45.45 - You know we think about pollens and we say 00:02:45.48\00:02:48.34 well pollens they are such an important factor 00:02:48.37\00:02:53.23 in most people's allergies 00:02:53.26\00:02:55.49 that maybe it is that these allergens that we have in 00:02:55.52\00:03:01.28 the air, this is what we're most likely to have a problem 00:03:01.31\00:03:05.59 with, within the whole pollen season we might take in 00:03:05.62\00:03:10.23 a half teaspoonful total of pollens. 00:03:10.26\00:03:14.07 But in one meal we take in cupfuls of food and that can 00:03:14.10\00:03:21.87 represent quite an impact on the immune system. 00:03:21.90\00:03:25.46 - It certainly can. - Tell us some things about 00:03:25.49\00:03:27.75 food allergies. 00:03:27.78\00:03:29.50 - Ok, happy to. - And the difference between 00:03:29.53\00:03:32.15 allergies and sensitivities. 00:03:32.18\00:03:34.96 - That is an important difference and really kind of 00:03:34.99\00:03:37.81 where I wanted to start and sharing the information today, 00:03:38.14\00:03:40.34 many people think that they have a food allergy when instead 00:03:40.38\00:03:43.94 they have a sensitivity to food, it's important to distinguish 00:03:43.97\00:03:47.07 between the two. 00:03:47.10\00:03:48.09 It is the food allergy that can be life threatening, 00:03:48.12\00:03:51.97 people who have symptoms of food allergy have symptoms from 00:03:52.00\00:03:56.64 the moment that food begins in their mouth, their mouth 00:03:56.67\00:03:59.29 may tingle, their throat may begin to burn, tingle or start 00:03:59.32\00:04:04.18 to swell, they may notice that they are beginning to wheeze or 00:04:04.21\00:04:07.84 feel a little short of breath, hives may pop out on their body. 00:04:07.87\00:04:12.34 If this condition progresses they may begin cramping, 00:04:12.37\00:04:16.44 have diarrhea, their blood pressure may drop, 00:04:16.47\00:04:19.38 they enter a shock stage and this is also a state then can 00:04:19.41\00:04:23.72 lead then to death. 00:04:23.75\00:04:24.87 There are six main food culprits that cause a true food allergy 00:04:24.90\00:04:31.83 they include milk, wheat, soy, eggs, peanuts, and shell fish. 00:04:31.86\00:04:40.13 These allergies are really the ones that are the most 00:04:40.16\00:04:44.60 life threatening and it's a courage that people who have 00:04:44.63\00:04:46.97 allergies to these substances even indicate that by wearing 00:04:47.00\00:04:50.67 a Med Alert bracelet, or Med Alert tag to let healthcare 00:04:50.70\00:04:55.08 professionals know if they find them in an unconscious 00:04:55.12\00:04:57.59 state, this might be the thing that triggered this state. 00:04:57.62\00:05:00.80 Food sensitivities on the other hand, cause distressing and 00:05:00.83\00:05:05.30 uncomfortable symptoms but they are not life threatening, 00:05:05.33\00:05:08.08 bloating, gas, upset stomach, headache, tiredness and fatigue, 00:05:08.11\00:05:14.78 these are the types of symptoms... 00:05:14.82\00:05:16.08 - A sore mouth after one has eaten a lot of fresh pineapple. 00:05:16.11\00:05:19.64 - That can be definitely a food sensitivity, another common 00:05:19.67\00:05:22.56 is how some individuals don't tolerate lactose well. 00:05:22.59\00:05:27.05 Lactose intolerance in a wonderful example of a 00:05:27.08\00:05:30.71 food sensitivity, not life threatening, will certainly 00:05:30.74\00:05:33.87 make you miserable but it's an example of a sensitivity to a 00:05:33.90\00:05:37.47 category of foods. 00:05:37.50\00:05:39.17 The main treatment for either a food allergy or a 00:05:39.20\00:05:44.05 food sensitivity is to avoid the substance that is causing 00:05:44.08\00:05:48.02 you so much distress, and this can be trickier than you think. 00:05:48.05\00:05:51.95 I brought with me a list today of some unusual places 00:05:51.98\00:05:56.21 you might find ingredients that fall within the category 00:05:56.24\00:06:01.65 of these six foods that cause such devastating food allergies. 00:06:01.68\00:06:05.01 For example Dr. Thrash would you ever think you would have 00:06:05.04\00:06:08.49 to be concerned about deli meats if you are allergic 00:06:08.52\00:06:11.26 to milk? 00:06:11.29\00:06:12.63 - No I wouldn't ever think... - Seems an odd place to look. 00:06:12.66\00:06:16.09 - that meat and milk would go together but I guess it must. 00:06:16.12\00:06:19.17 - Well it does but you need to remember products like cheese 00:06:19.20\00:06:22.54 also are to be avoided if a person has a true milk allergy 00:06:22.57\00:06:26.75 and in the deli, deli meats and cheeses are sliced on the 00:06:26.78\00:06:30.92 same slicer and so there can be a cross contamination. 00:06:30.95\00:06:33.88 Other surprising things, eggs occur frequently in pastas 00:06:33.91\00:06:38.36 that's a little more well known but specialty coffee's often 00:06:38.39\00:06:42.43 contain eggs. 00:06:42.46\00:06:43.66 - I sometimes try to find noodles and it's very difficult 00:06:43.69\00:06:47.32 to find noodles without eggs. - Indeed! 00:06:47.35\00:06:49.89 You may have to make your own noodles, my mother used to make 00:06:49.92\00:06:52.84 something called dumplings, I guess they were sort of 00:06:52.87\00:06:56.41 noodles. - Uh hu! Egg free! 00:06:56.44\00:06:59.46 - Egg free! Just flour, water and a little salt. 00:06:59.49\00:07:02.70 - Salt! Another place you might be surprised to find eggs 00:07:02.73\00:07:07.29 is in egg substitutes, of all things a place you would not 00:07:07.32\00:07:10.62 expect to find them at all. 00:07:10.65\00:07:11.90 If you can indeed have eggs, read the labels carefully. 00:07:11.93\00:07:14.82 When it comes to peanuts I actually brought an example, 00:07:14.85\00:07:19.20 peanuts can cause life threatening anaphylactic shock 00:07:19.23\00:07:23.74 in individuals who have strong allergies to peanuts 00:07:23.77\00:07:26.56 and it's been so many deaths so many serious cases of 00:07:26.59\00:07:30.27 peanut allergy that now products that... 00:07:30.30\00:07:32.93 This is a product called Cashew Crunch that you might 00:07:32.96\00:07:36.21 think is safe for peanuts is processed in a factory that 00:07:36.24\00:07:39.97 also processes peanut products. 00:07:40.00\00:07:42.09 Companies that do that now have to put a disclaimer 00:07:42.12\00:07:45.22 statement, this one happens to be located on the bottom 00:07:45.25\00:07:48.25 of the package, all it indicates is that this product has been 00:07:48.28\00:07:52.58 in a manufactory that also processes peanuts and 00:07:52.61\00:07:55.99 other nuts, you need to look for this label on products if 00:07:56.02\00:08:00.15 you are allergic to peanuts. 00:08:00.18\00:08:01.36 It's surprising that even sunflower seeds or almonds 00:08:01.39\00:08:06.37 things that you would just eat and think of course 00:08:06.40\00:08:08.86 this doesn't have peanuts in them, if they've come in contact 00:08:08.89\00:08:11.68 with peanuts they can still provide that allergic reaction. 00:08:11.71\00:08:15.67 - I have seen also on packages of grains that certain grains 00:08:15.70\00:08:21.17 have been processed in a factory having also wheat 00:08:21.20\00:08:26.03 processed there. 00:08:26.06\00:08:27.39 And for people who are very allergic to wheat they of course 00:08:27.42\00:08:31.68 need to avoid even the products that comes from these factories. 00:08:31.71\00:08:35.06 - Indeed and you can't rely on that label being there 00:08:35.09\00:08:38.89 it may very well be that this product has been made at a 00:08:38.92\00:08:43.06 factory that was also in contact with wheat, 00:08:43.09\00:08:45.60 they may not have put that label so don't rely on that 00:08:45.63\00:08:48.33 being there still be careful. 00:08:48.36\00:08:50.20 Wheat show up in unusual places imitation crab meat, ice cream 00:08:50.23\00:08:57.23 hot dogs, wheat can occur in any of these, read labels 00:08:57.26\00:09:01.24 carefully, shell fish, I didn't know this shell fish can 00:09:01.27\00:09:05.84 show up in Cesar's salad dressing, Caponata, which is a 00:09:05.87\00:09:09.45 which is a wonderful Italian vegetable, I thought, topping 00:09:09.48\00:09:13.29 for bread that has been broiled in the oven, 00:09:13.32\00:09:15.51 it has anchovies in it. 00:09:15.54\00:09:17.63 Worcestershire sauce and even restaurants that serve fish or 00:09:17.66\00:09:23.40 shell fish, the implements used in the kitchen 00:09:23.43\00:09:26.78 may have been used on the fish, the deep fryer that 00:09:26.81\00:09:30.01 fried the breaded shrimp may have just fried your 00:09:30.04\00:09:32.62 French fries and there is a cross contamination if you 00:09:32.65\00:09:35.85 are allergic to shell fish you need to be very careful. 00:09:35.88\00:09:39.03 And on this point of restaurants a person who has a true 00:09:39.06\00:09:42.81 food allergy has to be so careful to really stay away 00:09:42.84\00:09:46.85 from restaurants, you just don't know when a product 00:09:46.88\00:09:49.63 that you are highly allergic to has come across the things 00:09:49.66\00:09:53.83 that you have ordered which seems safe. 00:09:53.86\00:09:55.46 - And have gotten a cross contamination from something 00:09:55.49\00:09:57.75 that seems quite safe. 00:09:57.78\00:09:59.00 - Yeah! You know I do have a couple of other treatment 00:09:59.03\00:10:02.27 recommendations for individuals with food allergies other than 00:10:02.30\00:10:06.09 simply avoiding the food that is the key and most important 00:10:06.12\00:10:10.21 part of the treatment, but other things that you can do 00:10:10.24\00:10:12.55 take the load off your immune system in every way that you 00:10:12.58\00:10:16.38 can think of, don't treat your immune system cruelly, 00:10:16.41\00:10:19.60 avoid sugar, sugar in the enemy of your immune system 00:10:19.63\00:10:23.69 so stay away from it strictly, and even refined foods that 00:10:23.72\00:10:26.95 will break down in the body very quickly, like sugar. 00:10:26.98\00:10:30.53 Eat a plant based diet, animal products in themselves 00:10:30.56\00:10:35.06 carry a bacterial load with them, that puts a burden 00:10:35.09\00:10:38.51 on the immune system. 00:10:38.54\00:10:39.96 Plants inside are clean, we have to wash the outside 00:10:39.99\00:10:44.04 of our fruits and vegetables but inside they are clean 00:10:44.07\00:10:47.22 animal products are not that way. 00:10:47.25\00:10:49.14 - And animal products may carry on them or in them herbicides 00:10:49.17\00:10:54.62 and pesticides and hormones and a variety of contaminates 00:10:54.65\00:10:59.07 and loads of germs, and many people are truly allergic 00:10:59.10\00:11:03.13 to germs. 00:11:03.16\00:11:04.13 - Yes! So these are some tips that we can give you if 00:11:04.14\00:11:06.86 suffer from allergies to make sure that you lighten that load 00:11:06.89\00:11:11.31 on your immune system, do those things that boost and 00:11:11.34\00:11:14.17 help support your immune system like get your rest, 00:11:14.20\00:11:16.75 take good care to get fresh air and sunshine every day 00:11:16.78\00:11:20.03 keep your home environment clean those are some of the 00:11:20.06\00:11:23.44 additional things that we can recommend. 00:11:23.47\00:11:25.40 Now sometimes when I am working with a person who calls on the 00:11:25.43\00:11:29.10 telephone Dr. Thrash, they may ask how can I know 00:11:29.13\00:11:32.95 if I have a food sensitivity or a food allergy and 00:11:32.98\00:11:36.10 what do you recommend for people for testing for that 00:11:36.13\00:11:40.14 or for learning how they have those, if they have those. 00:11:40.17\00:11:43.09 - Well you mentioned about avoidance and that being the 00:11:43.12\00:11:45.85 very primary thing that a person needs to do 00:11:45.88\00:11:50.03 in the treatment of any kind of allergy, 00:11:50.06\00:11:52.49 we have nothing better than that and the treatment of the 00:11:52.52\00:11:56.35 allergic reaction is not so good as making it so that 00:11:56.38\00:12:00.98 the body does not have a reaction. 00:12:01.01\00:12:03.19 I always start with the same kind of information that 00:12:03.22\00:12:09.07 you gave about take as much of the load off of your immune 00:12:09.10\00:12:13.53 system as you can, if you know you have a certain 00:12:13.56\00:12:16.36 sensitivity or a certain allergy to a food, eliminate 00:12:16.39\00:12:20.48 that food as well as you can, don't get into the habit 00:12:20.51\00:12:24.16 of saying well I know that I am going to get hay fever 00:12:24.19\00:12:26.70 or stomach ache, or a headache or a cough from eating this 00:12:26.73\00:12:31.42 food or being exposed to this or that fragrance. 00:12:31.45\00:12:35.27 But just so that I can enjoy or indulge myself in that thing 00:12:35.30\00:12:41.15 I'm going to risk having the headache or the other thing 00:12:41.18\00:12:45.17 that you have, a symptom, now if you do that then that 00:12:45.20\00:12:49.76 not only put a current burden on the immune system 00:12:49.79\00:12:53.64 but that also tends to damage the immune system and make 00:12:53.67\00:12:57.79 it so that the immune system will over react to something 00:12:58.03\00:13:01.95 else and then if the immune system becomes habituated 00:13:01.98\00:13:06.90 to over reacting, then when it gets something that it has 00:13:06.93\00:13:11.62 a little allergy to, that may become a major allergy. 00:13:11.65\00:13:16.80 And I think that severe allergies to peanuts may often 00:13:16.83\00:13:21.42 be in that way, the person began to react to something 00:13:21.45\00:13:26.78 and then had a little reaction to peanuts and that allergy 00:13:26.81\00:13:31.94 mounted because there are so many things in peanuts 00:13:31.97\00:13:35.02 that can make the individual have an allergic reaction. 00:13:35.05\00:13:39.74 Same thing is true with many of the other nuts, tree nuts 00:13:39.77\00:13:43.39 and some of the most intense allergies that we see 00:13:43.42\00:13:46.89 are to nuts. 00:13:46.92\00:13:48.53 One little girl 11 years old was with a friend of hers 00:13:48.56\00:13:53.99 he knew she had a peanut allergy, she always avoided it 00:13:54.02\00:13:57.04 but her friend was eating a peanut butter sandwich, 00:13:57.07\00:14:00.30 the friend tripped and as she tripped the peanut butter 00:14:00.33\00:14:06.03 sandwich just brushed across her cheek, and the little 00:14:06.06\00:14:11.64 11 year old girl spent the next four days in intensive care 00:14:11.68\00:14:16.68 being treated for her peanut allergy, which was of course 00:14:16.71\00:14:20.80 not her fault at all. 00:14:20.83\00:14:21.92 So some of the most intense allergies known are to 00:14:21.95\00:14:27.03 various kinds of nuts. 00:14:27.06\00:14:29.79 Oh you wanted me to tell about what I tell people when they 00:14:29.82\00:14:36.46 call on the telephone. 00:14:36.49\00:14:38.72 Avoidance in number one, and number two is test yourself 00:14:38.75\00:14:44.19 with an elimination and challenge diet. 00:14:44.22\00:14:47.95 Now we may say, but I would like to get it over with now 00:14:47.98\00:14:53.07 so I want to have a serum test, so would you just please 00:14:53.10\00:14:57.01 draw some blood, send that off to the lab and let the lab 00:14:57.04\00:15:01.59 tell me what I have food allergies to. 00:15:01.62\00:15:05.58 Yes we can do that and it's somewhat expensive 00:15:05.61\00:15:10.39 and it takes a little time to get the answer back, 00:15:10.42\00:15:14.78 maybe a week, but we get a list of things, we may have 00:15:14.81\00:15:20.05 30 or 40 things and a person has a 1+ to squash 00:15:20.08\00:15:24.27 and a 3+ to wheat, and a 4+ to dairy and a little bit of a 00:15:24.30\00:15:30.70 trace to a few other things and maybe an all they have 10 00:15:30.73\00:15:37.33 severe allergies according to the serum test and maybe 00:15:37.36\00:15:42.28 20 things that they are a little allergic to. 00:15:42.31\00:15:46.56 Then the person looks at the list and I don't remember ever 00:15:46.59\00:15:50.15 having any kind of problem eating this or this or this 00:15:50.18\00:15:54.32 or this, and then we say well yes, this is not really the 00:15:54.35\00:15:59.53 best test. 00:15:59.56\00:16:00.53 The best test is in the laboratory of your own body, 00:16:00.56\00:16:04.63 in your own kitchen, in your own surroundings and so what 00:16:04.66\00:16:08.81 we like to tell people is do an elimination and challenge diet. 00:16:08.84\00:16:13.34 What you can do is get a list of foods to which people are 00:16:13.38\00:16:17.83 most likely to be sensitive, we have such a list, 00:16:17.86\00:16:21.18 I give this out to patients all the time, 00:16:21.21\00:16:23.38 if you would like to contact 3ABN they can put you in touch 00:16:23.41\00:16:27.02 with us, we'll be happy to mail a list to you or e-mail a list 00:16:27.05\00:16:31.24 to you and this is a very easy way for you to do an elimination 00:16:31.27\00:16:37.75 and challenge diet, you eliminate all of the things 00:16:37.78\00:16:40.60 on the list and then when your symptoms have gone away 00:16:40.63\00:16:44.95 then you start adding one thing back at a time, 00:16:44.98\00:16:47.96 about every week or ten days add a new food back that you had 00:16:47.99\00:16:53.39 eliminated and your symptoms had gone. 00:16:53.42\00:16:56.66 When you find the symptom returning, one of those things 00:16:56.69\00:17:01.00 that you have added back is the cause of your symptom. 00:17:01.03\00:17:05.25 Now I wish I could say that it's always the very last thing 00:17:05.33\00:17:08.60 but sometimes you have to eat something for a day or so 00:17:08.64\00:17:12.55 before you start having your symptom again. 00:17:12.58\00:17:14.85 So what we recommend is that you just keep a list 00:17:14.88\00:17:18.32 of everything that you are adding back and you may have 00:17:18.35\00:17:21.33 re-test a few things to see was it really this or was it 00:17:21.36\00:17:25.73 really that, so I can easily tell you how to do the test. 00:17:25.76\00:17:29.34 It's a little bit more complicated in your own 00:17:29.37\00:17:32.78 laboratory, but most of the time a person who has allergies 00:17:32.81\00:17:36.44 can find 5 or 6 foods to which they are truly allergic 00:17:36.47\00:17:41.98 by eliminating those foods then they can live very comfortably. 00:17:42.01\00:17:45.90 - Works well. - Thank you so much for telling 00:17:45.93\00:17:50.24 us about these things with food allergies. 00:17:50.27\00:17:51.93 - Sure. 00:17:51.96\00:17:54.07 - Now probably that food to which more people 00:17:54.10\00:17:58.28 have sensitivities and allergies than any other 00:17:58.32\00:18:02.47 is that of milk- milk and dairy they represent 60% 00:18:02.50\00:18:07.45 of all food sensitivities, so we recommend immediately 00:18:07.48\00:18:11.89 that you eliminate those, with the elimination of 00:18:11.92\00:18:14.96 dairy products, all of them, that includes ice cream 00:18:14.99\00:18:18.53 and anything that has dairy in it, some of the things that 00:18:18.56\00:18:22.08 you would never suspect that might have dairy in it 00:18:22.11\00:18:25.14 may have a little whey or a little sodium caseinate 00:18:25.17\00:18:29.45 or sodium lactate, and these are milk products, 00:18:29.48\00:18:32.54 putting those in the food can make it so that food is going to 00:18:32.57\00:18:37.62 make the allergic person have a severe reaction, 00:18:37.65\00:18:41.29 so remember that about dairy. 00:18:41.32\00:18:43.42 Then the other things that Rhonda mentioned, you should 00:18:43.45\00:18:47.60 eliminate those or be careful to avoid them. 00:18:47.63\00:18:50.90 Now I have asked Dr. Don Miller to talk with us some more about 00:18:50.93\00:18:56.12 these things having to do with allergies, Dr. Miller thank you 00:18:56.15\00:18:59.91 for being on the program, and I would like to find out what 00:18:59.94\00:19:03.32 you would like to say about allergies. 00:19:03.35\00:19:05.29 - You've mentioned the immune system a few times and 00:19:05.32\00:19:08.47 one thing we have learned about the immune system is as you 00:19:08.50\00:19:11.54 grow older it gets a little bit weaker. 00:19:11.57\00:19:13.96 Now some people out there, there are certain things called 00:19:13.99\00:19:17.81 contact dermatitis which are an allergy, and the main one 00:19:17.84\00:19:23.22 that we have in the United States is a thing called 00:19:23.25\00:19:24.69 poison ivy, I have never been allergic to poison ivy, 00:19:24.72\00:19:29.48 I have no allergy to this thing at all, I can pull it with 00:19:29.51\00:19:32.28 my hands, rub it on myself no problems but I have as I've 00:19:32.31\00:19:36.90 gotten older thought that I better quit testing fate 00:19:36.93\00:19:39.94 because one of these days my immune system might drop down 00:19:39.97\00:19:42.77 low enough that I sit there and do all of my rubbing 00:19:42.80\00:19:45.13 on my face and come down with the worst case in the world. 00:19:45.16\00:19:48.14 But there are other types of allergies that we know are 00:19:48.17\00:19:52.20 very common in our society and one of these things is an 00:19:52.23\00:19:57.06 allergy to animal dander, if you have a dog or a cat, 00:19:57.09\00:20:00.52 these things can be the very thing that you are allergic to. 00:20:00.55\00:20:03.51 Whether it's the hair that they leave, the organisms that live 00:20:03.54\00:20:08.72 in the hair of your animal what ever it is, if you are allergic 00:20:08.75\00:20:12.31 to your animal, that might be the very thing that you have to 00:20:12.34\00:20:15.68 make a really hard choice about should I keep this 00:20:15.71\00:20:18.14 animal or not. 00:20:18.17\00:20:19.69 - And especially with children. - Especially! 00:20:19.72\00:20:21.92 - Children can be intensely allergic to animals, 00:20:21.95\00:20:25.70 pets in the home, the children love the animals and parents 00:20:25.73\00:20:30.03 also love them, and we can have as much affection for an animal 00:20:30.06\00:20:35.48 as we do for a family member but we must make the choice. 00:20:35.51\00:20:40.41 Affection is one thing, and it brings up a very warm feeling 00:20:40.44\00:20:47.22 for us but love is altogether different, love is not that 00:20:47.25\00:20:51.36 sentimental, love says this is what is good, we will follow 00:20:51.39\00:20:56.07 this path and so we may have to eliminate animals from the home. 00:20:56.10\00:20:59.64 - May have to, but it's not just the homes, an interesting 00:20:59.68\00:21:02.74 study in Brazil where they went into buses and taxi cabs 00:21:02.77\00:21:06.97 where no animals are allowed, vacuumed these vehicles 00:21:07.00\00:21:11.19 and found large amounts of animal dander. 00:21:11.22\00:21:14.65 Because if you have an animal you are around the animal 00:21:14.68\00:21:18.09 you yourself pick up the dander you go to the restaurant, 00:21:18.12\00:21:22.67 you go to the theater, you go to this place where it's a 00:21:22.70\00:21:26.19 common gathering place and sit in an area leave and then 00:21:26.22\00:21:30.36 someone else sits there that has the allergy, you pick up 00:21:30.39\00:21:33.65 the dander and take it home with you and it doesn't take 00:21:33.68\00:21:36.58 much sometimes, just small amounts of animal dander 00:21:36.61\00:21:39.24 can cause a lot of problems. 00:21:39.27\00:21:41.11 Another one is things like dust mites, they usually think 00:21:41.14\00:21:45.68 it might be the Kapok tree which they use to stuff a lot 00:21:45.71\00:21:48.34 of animals or perhaps some feathers that they stuffed 00:21:48.37\00:21:50.98 animals with and pillows and comforters and whereas those 00:21:51.01\00:21:55.33 things might be allergenic, we are finding more and more 00:21:55.36\00:21:59.29 it's a fact that they are the ones that hold molds 00:21:59.32\00:22:01.56 and dust mites. 00:22:01.59\00:22:02.90 Before storms we sit there and we think ahh! before the storm 00:22:02.93\00:22:05.87 it's so clear the wind is blowing and everything, the wind 00:22:05.90\00:22:09.03 blows up more molds and normally before a storm mold counts 00:22:09.06\00:22:13.58 can jump up ten times of what they were before the storm 00:22:13.61\00:22:17.09 because now we are having this agitation, especially a 00:22:17.12\00:22:20.21 cold front that whips things up from the ground and 00:22:20.24\00:22:22.88 brings it into the air. 00:22:22.91\00:22:23.93 Yes, after the storm it may be a little bit better, 00:22:24.08\00:22:26.73 but after the storm things are more humid and you have 00:22:26.76\00:22:29.82 more moisture and that causes more molds to grow, and probably 00:22:29.85\00:22:34.93 one of the main ones we have and it doesn't discriminate 00:22:34.96\00:22:37.53 whether you are poor or rich is that little thing called 00:22:37.56\00:22:40.17 the roach. - Oh yes! it comes in the house 00:22:40.20\00:22:42.96 dies and then the... - That's it, it's the dead 00:22:42.99\00:22:46.97 roaches and the feces of a roach which are some main 00:22:47.00\00:22:50.18 allergens and this is everywhere in the homes especially down in 00:22:50.21\00:22:55.23 the southeast... I lived in California too we had 00:22:55.26\00:22:59.32 these large palmettos there and these things just happened, 00:22:59.35\00:23:03.14 especially where it is moist, any leaks in the house, 00:23:03.17\00:23:06.26 fix the leak because the leak is going to draw the roaches 00:23:06.29\00:23:09.44 because they like the moist areas and so does the mold. 00:23:09.47\00:23:12.63 And we've got major problems, we had a home near Uchee Pines 00:23:12.66\00:23:16.09 not long ago, and not in our home but it got black mold 00:23:16.12\00:23:19.84 and they had people come in with masks and big bags 00:23:19.87\00:23:25.77 and put the whole house is bags and then they had to burn 00:23:25.80\00:23:29.22 the ground upon which the house sat. 00:23:29.25\00:23:31.65 Molds are a major problem, we had a patient come to 00:23:31.68\00:23:34.11 Uchee Pines some years ago she was looking for a home 00:23:34.14\00:23:37.23 went down into the basement took one breath and realized 00:23:37.26\00:23:41.05 there is something wrong down here, and she ended up being 00:23:41.08\00:23:43.79 our patient from that one breath, maybe two breaths 00:23:43.82\00:23:46.34 in the basement just because she took in all these mold spores 00:23:46.37\00:23:50.21 and unbelievable allergies for that poor woman. 00:23:50.24\00:23:54.27 - Well environmental allergies are certainly an important part 00:23:54.30\00:23:58.82 of what we have to face when we have allergies. 00:23:58.85\00:24:01.48 - Yeah, and cigarette smoke is another allergen. 00:24:01.51\00:24:03.34 - Oh yes, all sorts of fumes, thank you so much Dr. Miller. 00:24:03.71\00:24:06.45 - My pleasure, thank you. 00:24:06.63\00:24:07.70 - Now we have ways that we can look at allergies, 00:24:07.74\00:24:12.40 I think the very fine article that came out in 00:24:12.43\00:24:18.37 Scientific American in January of 2005 is well worth your 00:24:18.40\00:24:24.48 looking up, maybe you can find it on line or certainly in a 00:24:24.51\00:24:28.16 library, Scientific American January in 05. 00:24:28.19\00:24:33.10 Look this up and read about the new things that are being 00:24:33.13\00:24:37.39 discovered about the immune system, we had always thought 00:24:37.42\00:24:40.44 about the immune system as yes we produce antibodies, we have 00:24:40.47\00:24:45.09 some killer cells, and some macrophages and all of these 00:24:45.12\00:24:51.15 they are part of the immune system but we didn't understand 00:24:51.18\00:24:54.59 until some recent research which started back in the 90's 00:24:54.62\00:24:59.38 about the allergic response or the immune response. 00:24:59.41\00:25:04.16 It is amazing how we have two separate systems 00:25:04.19\00:25:09.21 that we might call an early waning system in the body 00:25:09.24\00:25:14.44 and it protects us remarkably. 00:25:14.47\00:25:16.84 Now I would like to show you a chart which can help you 00:25:16.87\00:25:19.79 to understand a bit more about this matter of allergies 00:25:19.82\00:25:23.86 and just how widespread it is. 00:25:23.89\00:25:27.63 Here is a little child walking through some grass and gets 00:25:27.66\00:25:33.08 skin allergies from just walking through the grass, 00:25:33.11\00:25:36.23 and of course the food allergens that we have already mentioned, 00:25:36.26\00:25:39.94 the eggs, the peanuts, the shell fish, the milk and many others 00:25:39.97\00:25:44.29 and then the environmental allergies which is getting this 00:25:44.32\00:25:50.41 poor person the hay fever. 00:25:50.44\00:25:52.47 And asthma that we have portrayed here, 00:25:52.50\00:25:58.11 asthma is truly an allergic reaction in most people. 00:25:58.14\00:26:03.41 One can be allergic to something on the outside that comes 00:26:03.44\00:26:09.08 from the outside of the body or from the inside, germs mainly. 00:26:09.11\00:26:13.95 And then household allergens such as dust mites and 00:26:13.98\00:26:18.04 carpet mites and all sorts of insects that crawl on us 00:26:18.07\00:26:23.53 or bite us, or sting us, those things, insect allergies can 00:26:23.56\00:26:29.44 be really quite severe. 00:26:29.47\00:26:31.18 When I began my work in pathology, one of my first 00:26:31.21\00:26:35.38 assignments was to investigate a case, a man who had died 00:26:35.41\00:26:39.84 some 30 minutes by being stung by a bee, and he was mowing 00:26:39.87\00:26:46.24 a lawn and went to sit on the porch and he began to feel bad 00:26:46.27\00:26:51.10 and within 30 minutes had died from it, so we know that 00:26:51.13\00:26:54.50 yellow jackets and hornets can really be 00:26:54.53\00:26:58.71 a serious problem for us. 00:26:58.74\00:27:00.31 Another big problem with allergenic things is that 00:27:00.34\00:27:05.83 of drugs, drugs we sometimes think well I got this as 00:27:05.86\00:27:11.74 a prescription drug, surely it's not going to cause a 00:27:11.77\00:27:15.19 problem, but one of the important allergenic substances 00:27:15.22\00:27:19.18 in our environment today is that of drugs, 00:27:19.21\00:27:22.85 often prescription drugs, sometimes it's 00:27:22.88\00:27:25.31 over the counter drugs. 00:27:25.34\00:27:26.99 Now we have a host of other kinds of allergenic substances 00:27:27.02\00:27:33.05 for the individual person who has allergies, they simply need 00:27:33.08\00:27:37.93 to discover what these allergens are and eliminate those 00:27:37.96\00:27:42.83 from the body. 00:27:42.86\00:27:44.57 When we think about the beauty of the immune system 00:27:44.60\00:27:47.66 it's not to hard to believe that Satan would want to 00:27:47.69\00:27:51.88 use that to annoy us also. 00:27:51.91\00:27:56.03