Section
16
|
ALLERGIES
SYMPTOMS—Digestive (after eating) symptoms: Dry mouth, food intolerance, stomach ulcers, canker sores, excessive tiredness, palpitations, swelled stomach, sweating, mental fuzziness, stinging tongue, metallic taste, heartburn, indigestion, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, food cravings, pains, intestinal gas, gall bladder trouble.
Muscular and skeletal symptoms: Arthritis; aches in neck, back, or shoulders; fatigue; spasms; joint pain.
Respiratory and throat symptoms: Cough, asthma, frequent colds, postnasal drip, wheezing, hay fever, nosebleeds, chest tightness, hoarseness, shortness of breath, dry or sore throat.
Nervous symptoms: Tachycardia (fast heart rate), palpitations, depression, anger, anxiety, confusion, irritability, hyperactivity, restlessness, learning and memory problems.
Skin symptoms: Blotches, acne, flushing, hives, dark circles under eyes, itching, eczema, psoriasis.
CAUSES—An allergy is a sensitivity to some particular substance, known as an allergen. It may be harmless to some while causing problems for others. The allergen may be a food, inhalant, or chemical. It may be smoke, molds, pollen, perfume, formalin, etc.
Causes vary widely: There can be urticaria (skin rash with itching) from fish or strawberries; paranoia from sugar; headaches from perfume; or asthma-like symptoms from sulfite (a preservative in sulphured raisins and apricots). The list goes on and on.
Mold is a special problem. It can be in the house, in the food, in the drugs (that is what the penicillin-type drugs are: mold!). Avoid dampness in, or around, your home.
It is estimated that 35 million Americans, alone, have some type of allergy.
Unfortunately, we live in the chemical age. The body cannot handle all the problem substances entering it, and it rebels.
TREATMENT—
• Take vitamin C to bowel tolerance (the amount you can take before diarrhea results from the acidity in the C).
• Take vitamin A and zinc, and be sure and get enough essential fatty acids and vitamin B complex.
• Eat a balanced, moderate, nutritious diet and drink enough water—and you will find that many things in your life will improve.
• Try a fruit and vegetable juice fast for 1-3 days. If you are not thin, repeat it every month.
• Here is a good liver flush to take during the fast: 1 teaspoon of olive oil, one-half teaspoon of fresh ginger, 1 teaspoon of fenugreek, 1 teaspoon of ground dandelion, the juice of 1 fresh lemon, and a pinch of cayenne. Mix it in juice and drink every morning during the fast.
• Building up the body and avoiding the offensive substances is what you want. Regarding the second, what should you avoid? The simplest solution is to do a pulse test. Include one test item in each meal; take your pulse after each meal, and see if that item raised your pulse a little. Some people are disturbed each time they ride in a car. Keep searching for causes.
Here are other ways to have avoidance:
• Vacuum the house and car more often. Air-condition the house and car. Install an air cleaner in your bedroom or get one which connects to your central air conditioner. Buy a dehumidifier.
• Wrap your bedding in plastic. Use a synthetic pillow or none at all. Wash mattress pads more often.
• Get rid of the old carpets, clean the floors, and either install new carpets or stop using them. Use throw rugs instead.
• Clean damp areas in your home, such as under the sink and around the bathtub.
• If you have animals in the house, keep them clean, well groomed and healthy. Frequently change cages or wash their bedding. Animals are not involved in allergy as frequently as people think. They seem to be the 'allergy scapegoats'.
If you have absolute unmistakable evidence that a pet is the source of an allergy, try bathing it and keeping it well groomed. If this fails, be sure to find a good home for the pet. It is a living thing also and its needs should be respected. As a child with asthma I several times suffered having my pets taken from me when I would go to certain 'allergy specialists'- it never helped my asthma- and it sure didn't help my emotional development! (temcat edit)
• Set aside one room which you keep air-filtered.
—Also see "Hay Fever." Important, also see "How to Do the Pulse Test," immediately below. It explains how to identify food allergies.
ENCOURAGEMENT—How sweet it is to trust in God! How encouraging it is to find in Him the guidance we need for daily life. As you seek Him in prayer, He will bring you the deep peace your heart so craves.
# PULSE TEST, HOW TO DO
WHAT IT IS—The Pulse Test is mentioned in this book occasionally. It was devised by Arthur Coca, M.D., and is discussed in detail in his book, The Pulse Test. It is a simple home method, to determine which foods you are allergic to.
HOW TO DO THE PULSE TEST—Identifying specific food allergens can improve your health. Each test is simple enough, but they must be continued over a period of time.
First, how do you take your pulse? Place your finger on an artery somewhere on your body that you can easily feel. Nurses check the pulse at the inside of the wrist. The author has found that it is much easier to check it on the upper front side of his neck, at the carotid artery. Have a stopwatch in your other hand and time the beats for one minute.
To perform this test, you take your pulse. This is called your basal pulse or base pulse rate.
Then you eat a single food, and check your pulse rate in 15, 30, and 60 minutes afterward.
An elevation in pulse rate of more than ten beats; that is, it beats more than 10 beats faster per minute than your base pulse. This means that you are allergic to that food.
A problem is that you may wish to eat more than one food at a time. You can take your base pulse, then sit down and eat your entire meal and keep checking your pulse 15, 30, and 60 minutes after you finished. In this way you will obtain an inkling that everything was all right at that meal or that something was wrong. Gradually, over a period of time, you can narrow it down, and then work on specific foods. Eating only one at a time and checking your pulse on those.
OTHER TESTS—Here are several other tests:
The Elimination Diet: Eliminate certain foods from your meal for several days, and see how it affects your pulse. This is a good pattern to use in connection with the Pulse Test.
Food Rotation Diets: This is said to be a good method. Grains, proteins, and other suspected foods are arranged in the diet so that their consumption is not repeated more frequently than every 4-5 days. This helps you figure things out a little more quickly with your pulse test.
The Fast Test: Fast for five days and then add individual foods and test each one with your pulse. This is far more accurate, but who wants to eat like a mouse all that time? The theory behind this method is that many reactions take 5 days to settle down and another 3-5 days to begin again. But following that theory, you will not be eating much for a good long time.
Skin Patch Test: This is something you can buy at your drugstore. Perhaps it will tell you something.
The Diet Diary: This method helps when offending foods seem to afterward bother you emotionally, give you headaches, etc. You keep an ongoing meal diary, at which you note what you ate, and afterward write down how it affected you. Within minutes or hours after eating an offending food, there may be indications of problems.
The RAST Test—This test costs about $15 per food item, and you may want to use it, after narrowing the range with the other tests. The Radioallergiabsorbent Test (RAST Test) identifies specific antibodies in the blood to certain foods or other substances. Usually common allergenic foods, such as wheat, milk, eggs, yeast, and citrus are tested. But any food can be a problem. Most good laboratories do RAST tests. However, because it is extremely selective (only showing up positive Ige-mediated allergies), many false-negative reactions occur.
The Cytotoxic Allergy Test: This test exposes some of your white blood cells to a fraction of the suspected food or substance. A battery of 38 to 40 tests of common foods are routinely tested for only $80 to $90, so it is less expensive and more convenient than RAST. Even inhalants, food dyes, or other chemicals can be tested! But the test is only done at large medical centers; and, again, many false-positives occur. Some experts question the reliability of this test, since human interpretation is required to analyze the results.
Unfortunately, results of RAST and the cytotoxic tests rarely agree. (It is said that each test locates different "systems" of allergies.) Frankly, it seems that you would do best just checking your pulse at home, and saving the money.
Once you have identified specific allergenic foods, you then eliminate them from your diet.
—See "Allergies" and "Hay Fever."
ENCOURAGEMENT—What must it be like to be close to God? It is a little heaven on earth, to go to heaven in. Yet, by daily surrender and prayer, we can each have this experience. Through the enabling strength of Christ obey His Ten Commandment law, and you will fulfill His plan for your earthly life.
HAY FEVER (Allergic Rhinitis)
SYMPTOMS—Itching in the nose, throat, and eyes. Runny or stuffy nose, headaches, pain in the head and sinuses, blurred vision, red and itchy eyes, postnasal drip. A clear, watery, discharge from the nose and eyes occurs. There is sneezing and nervous irritability.
CAUSES—Hay fever is most frequently caused by breathing in plant pollens. (Ragweed and grass pollen are the worst offenders.) The problem tends to be seasonal (spring or fall), according to plant cycles. But some may have to suffer with it all year long if they are sensitive to dust, feathers, or animal danders. Such people are said to have perennial allergic rhinitis.
Hay fever is a reaction of the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, and air passages to such seasonal pollens, as well as to dust, feathers, animal hair, and other irritants.
Dry, windy, days; riding in an open car; and working in the garden sometimes increase symptoms.
Morning and evening hours are the most uncomfortable. Midday may be better.
Stressful situations and alcoholic beverages can trigger an attack.
Anger, resentment, or negative thoughts can increase the symptoms.
Hay fever sufferers frequently also have asthma and dermatitis.
The body is trying to clean out toxins and dust. If the diet is not nutritious; if the person is eating too much or eating foods, such as milk, ice cream, sugar, and white-flour products, the overloaded system cannot deal properly with the additional task of resisting the effects of airborne pollens.
TREATMENT—
• The most effective treatment is to avoid the irritant.
• Vitamin C in large doses of 200 mg or more daily greatly helps many with this problem.
• Vitamin A is essential for proper functioning of the respiratory system. The B complex (especially B6 and B12) help the body produce interferon, to protect the body against allergens.
• Calcium, magnesium, potassium, selenium, and zinc are also important.
• Be sure and eat green leafy vegetables. Stay on a high-fiber diet.
• Try eating unprocessed, raw, honey. It is rich in pollen.
• Water helps flush out the system. Be sure you are drinking enough.
• Because it firms up blood vessels throughout the body, exercise decreases nasal stuffiness.
• A hot footbath helps relieve nasal congestion.
• Consider these possibilities: Cold cloths wrung from ice water applied to the forehead greatly help. Change as soon as they warm up. Relief comes in about 45 minutes, but continue it for 3 hours. Then intermittently for 6 hours. In some, this treatment has stopped attacks for the season.
• Build up the immune system, and clean the blood and colon. Healthy sinuses have moist mucous membranes similar to the skin in the mouth. They are able to wash pollen and other irritants out of the nasal cavities and down the throat into the stomach, where they are neutralized.
• Guard against chilling. It constricts blood vessels in the skin, driving blood elsewhere—including the nasal cavities. This causes a swelling in the sinuses, which makes the symptoms worse.
• Fenugreek helps eliminate hard mucous from the body. Garlic kills bacteria. Goldenseal helps clear out toxins from the digestive tract.
• Cover mattress and pillows with plastic. Avoid wool bedding or furniture stuffed with horsehair.
• If you have animals in the house, keep them clean, well groomed and healthy. Frequently change cages or wash their bedding. (temcat edit)
—Also see "Allergies" and "Asthma."
ENCOURAGEMENT—Amid the problems to which all are exposed, we need help from God. As we come to Him, believing, we can receive all the help we need. Trust Him ever; He will never forsake you, except by your choice.
FOOD POISONING
SYMPTOMS—Pain, vomiting, cramping, weakness, diarrhea, dizziness.
Symptoms occur quickly, 1-4 hours after eating the contaminated substance. They can last for a few hours or a few days.
Salmonella symptoms: pain, vomiting, and diarrhea can require several days to appear.
Staphylococcus aureus symptoms: diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting 2-6 hours after the meal. It is good to induce vomiting, to help rid the system of toxins.
Botulism symptoms: 12-48 hours after ingestion, symptoms appear. Extreme weakness, double vision, swallowing difficulty. Paralysis and death can follow.
Giardia symptoms: Constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, nausea, flatulence, and vomiting.
CAUSES—Eating food containing harmful bacteria causes food poisoning. Each year more than 2 million Americans report food poisoning. Of course, the actual number is far higher. Unfortunately, we live in a poisoned age. About 2 million Americans report food poisoning each year; of that number, 9,000 people die each year. A far greater number have food poisoning, who think it is the flu.
A full 90% of botulism cases in the United States are caused by improper home canning. The safest method is to cook the jarred food in a pressure cooker rather than in a tub on top of the stove.
Two-thirds of all food poisoning cases were related to the use of poorly cooked eggs.
The types of bacteria in food which cause disease (pathogenic) or produce toxins (toxigenic) cannot be seen, tasted, or smelled in the food.
Here are the most common of these food poisoning organisms:
Salmonella (Salmonellosis): This is the most common cause of food poisoning. It has especially increased since antibiotics began being placed in animal feeds, to prevent disease in crowded, unsanitary, conditions and help them grow faster. (More than 50% of cattle, poultry, and swine are now given antibiotics.) But, doing this, promoted the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in animal intestines. A third of all chickens in America have salmonella.
Salmonella is easily transmitted on hands, food supplies, knives, table tops, cracked eggs, partly raw food, etc. Mechanical methods of evisceration in slaughterhouses also spread salmonella to all the other birds being slaughtered. Cooks that handle raw meat or eggs, and then handle other food—especially raw food, such as salads—endanger many people. Vegetarians should wash their hands with soap, immediately after handling raw egg shells. Cook eggs well. (Beware of mayonnaise; it contains raw eggs.) Milk and ice cream can also be contaminated with salmonella. In 1985, 17,000 people in the northeast became ill from contaminated milk.
Outbreaks of salmonella poisoning primarily occur in the warmer months. Symptoms range from mild abdominal pain to severe diarrhea, and even typhoid-like fever. This disease can so weaken the immune system that the kidneys, heart, and blood vessels are damaged. Arthritis can result.
Eating raw or poorly cooked chicken, eggs, beef, and pork products is the main way salmonella is eaten. But it can also be found in clams and oysters.
Of 35 food poisoning outbreaks reported between 1985 to 1987, 24 were caused by contaminated eggs, or foods containing them. Boil eggs for at least 25 minutes.
We will briefly note some other sources of food-borne illness:
Staphylococcus aureus: This is said to be the second-largest source of food poisoning (25%). This can be transmitted by coughing and sneezing on food.
Clostridium botulinum: This is old-fashioned botulism. Many restaurants and roadhouses leave food setting out at room temperature for hours. This can also be found in old mustard and other sauce jars. Although easily destroyed by cold or heat, botulism is the most deadly of all the food-borne diseases. It produces toxins which block nerve impulses to the muscles.
Heating food to 176o F. for 20 minutes or 194o F. for 10 minutes destroys the spores. Home-canned food, not properly cooked, can be dangerous. Never use contents of a bulging can or a rusty can! It is found in canned vegetables, meats, fish, mushrooms, and soups.
Giardia (giardiasis): This is found in drinking water from lakes and streams. It is not destroyed by water treatment, including chlorination. It can also be found in raw food which has grown in contaminated water. Giardia grows best where it is cool and damp.
Four other sources of food poisoning should be mentioned: Staphylococcus, complobacter jejuini, campylobacteriosis, and clostridium perfringens.
Each of these comes primarily from eating meat, and sometimes dairy products.
Before concluding, keep in mind trichinae (trichinella), which is found in pork. Also beware of mold found on food; it can produce poisonous toxins. Do not eat potato sprouts; they have concentrated solanine which can cause hallucinations even after recovery.
TREATMENT—
• As soon as you believe you have food poisoning, take a eyedropperful of alcohol-free goldenseal extract every 4 hours for 24 hours. This natural antibiotic will destroy bacteria in the intestinal tract. (But never take goldenseal for more than a week at a time, during pregnancy, or if you are allergic to ragweed.)
• Take 6 charcoal tablets immediately, and again in 6 hours. They will help neutralize poisons in your bloodstream. Drink lots of good water (distilled is best).
• Telephone your regional Poison Control Center. There is a different phone number for each state. Dial the operator (0) or emergency (911) and ask for that number in your state.
• Use enemas to clean out the colon.
• Someone should help the one vomiting, so he does not choke. If he does not stop vomiting within 24 hours, collect samples for analysis, to identify the poison.
• Sometimes it is best to induce vomiting. Lobelia will help or drinking water and putting a finger down the throat.
• If food poisoning may have occurred in a restaurant or roadhouse, contact the health department.
• If the condition continues, contact a physician.
• Research at the University of Wolverhamptom, in Britain, disclosed that all types of disease-producing intestinal bacteria died when garlic was present.
• A severe headache and vomiting soon after a meal may be caused by food allergies, which see. Charcoal tablets will help solve that problem.
PREVENTION—It is best to stop eating meat and dairy products or, if you do, be sure they are most thoroughly cooked. Check home-canned jars carefully before opening them. Beware of restaurants, roadhouses, and salad bars. When eating out, you eat at your own risk. To help protect you, eat 2 garlic tablets before you eat anything else. Better yet, pack bag lunches and learn to buy what you need at a grocery store.
Refrigerate food you buy as soon as you can. Keep perishables refrigerated. Keep food hot or cold; food left at room temperature encourages bacterial growth. Keep the refrigerator set at 40o F. or below, and the freezer set at 0o F. or below.
Meat, poultry, eggs, and seafood are especially dangerous. They must be cooked thoroughly and hands washed; all utensils touching the raw materials must be sterilized. Do not use recipes calling for raw eggs which will remain raw or be inadequately cooked. Do not leave mayonnaises, salad dressings, and milk products sitting out at room temperature. Be especially careful at picnics.
Wash kitchen towels and sponges daily with a 1-20 bleach and water solution.
Do not use bulging cans or products with loose lids or cracked jars! Rusted, sticky, or bent cans should be discarded. Wash lunch boxes and Thermos bottles after each use.
Thaw all frozen foods in the refrigerator.
When reheating food, bring it to a quick boil, and cook it for a minimum of 4 minutes.
Do not give honey to a young baby below the age of one. Fed by the honey, botulism spores will grow in the infant's intestine, producing botulism toxin.
ENCOURAGEMENT—By firm adherence to the right, through the grace of Christ, each one of us can fulfill God's plan for our lives. Go to Him in prayer and find the answers you need.
POISON IVY (Poison Oak; Poison Sumac)
SYMPTOMS—In those only slightly sensitive to it: One or more small round bumps with a slight pus area showing in the center. Each one is extremely itchy. It is slightly itchy until touched by something (clothing, a hand, etc.), when it suddenly becomes intensely itchy. Scratching brings momentary relief, but causes redness, rash, and more itching.
In those who are very sensitive to it: Extreme redness, rash, and large swelling of the affected area. The itch is continuous. Many large blisters develop. As the poison is spread over other parts of the body, both fever and secondary infection may develop.
Symptoms appear within a few hours to 7 days after contact with the plant.
CAUSES—The three poison plants in North America (poison oak, ivy, and sumac) contain a oily, slightly sticky, sap in the flowers, fruit, stem, bark; and roots which, when touched, produces a contact papular dermatitis on the skin. The plant has the greatest amount of this sap in the spring and early summer. The poison is urushiol, which has both a plant resin and a volatile oil. Even dead roots and stems contain urushiol.
Scratching can transmit the toxic substance to still other parts of the body.
Contact with the poison can be made, not only by touching the plant, but by touching an animal's fur, contaminated clothing, shoes, etc. Smoke from burning plants can, through droplets, transmit it to the skin, nose, throat, or lungs. In some cases, children have eaten the leaves or grayish berries and developed severe inflammation in the mouth.
Sensitivity to the plant varies from person to person, and even in different times in a person's life. Lightweight fabrics do not adequately protect against poison ivy or oak.
TREATMENT—
• If the possibility exists that you may have touched it, wash your hands as soon as possible. Carefully wash downward, so the water drips down off your hands rather than up your arms. Wash with soap and water; rinse in running water; wash again with soap and water. Do this several times in order to get the toxic oils off your skin. Then dry and see what happens.
• As soon as you touch the plant, try to wash the skin with water, even if no soap is available. The water tends to carry off the oil. If nothing else is available, in an emergency apply paint thinner, ammonia, or acetone to carry off the oils.
• Yellow laundry soap is best for this purpose. You want a strong cleansing soap which cuts oil and carries it away. An alkaline laundry soap or detergent is the best.
• In washing the skin, never use a washcloth; it only moves the toxic oil around.
• Wash clothing and gear in soapy water.
• Those slightly sensitive to the plant can simply avoid touching or scratching the pimples, and the itching will be only slightly noticed. If they wish, they can briefly apply compresses of hot, plain, water to the area.
• Those strongly sensitive may wish to consult a physician.
• Keep in mind that, for most people, the treatment for urushiol is to reduce the itching until the poison eventually leaves the system, at which time the rash completely clears up.
What should you put on the affected area to reduce the itching? Here are several suggestions:
• Jewelweed always ranks at the top of every list. This is a small plant with dark green leaves and red berries, which may be found in your locality. If you are sure it is jewelweed (and if you can find it), crush the leaves and rub them lightly on the affected area. Another method is to ball up the whole plant and wipe it over the area.
• Other herbs include bloodroot, echinacea, goldenseal, lobelia, myrrh, plantain, or Solomon's seal.
• Another method is to apply a tea made of 50-50 white oak bark and lime water. Place it on a cloth, cover the area, and reapply as often as needed.
• Most poisons are either strongly acid or alkaline in pH. For an alkaline antidote to the itching, place some form of calcium powder, mixed with water to hold it in place, on the area. Calcium gluconate (a dietary calcium supplement) is what the author uses. It nicely reduces the itching. An alternate alkaline method is to blend oatmeal into a fine powder, and add a small amount of water to make a paste. Goldenseal, a very alkaline substance, can also be used. Banana peels, rubbed directly on the area, bring relief for as long as 4 hours. Another way is to place calamine lotion on it (but beware of the antihistamine additives in some brands of it; they can produce their own allergic rash). White shoe polish (which contains calcium and pipe clay) has also been used, but it may contain additives you do not want.
• There is also an acid approach to the problem! Acid substances have also been used with success, to reduce itching: Wash lemon juice over the area, then pat dry. Repeat as needed. Vinegar can be used.
• Wet dressings and soaks are helpful. A physiologic saline solution (2 level teaspoons of salt to a quart of water) is useful.
• Run hot water (as hot as can be tolerated) over the area. This seems to wash off some of the oils. Itching may stop for several hours. Repeat when needed.
• When you are finished working on the affected area, you might wish to wash rubbing alcohol over the skin exposed to that area. This washes oils off your skin. (But this would appear to be a poor solution, since the oiless skin ought to have a higher affinity to the urushiol than oiled skin.)
Learn to identify the plant:
• Poison ivy is a small plant which, when a bush or tree is nearby, grows as a vine up it. Growing in the eastern states, it has three leaves with a notch in the two outer ones. The central leaf is at the end of the stalk.
• Poison oak is a bush, generally small but which can grow taller than a man. Growing in the western states, it has the same three leaf and notch pattern, but the leaves are curly and appear thicker—more like a live oak.
• Poison sumac is also a bush, and, with its compound leaves, looks very much like other sumac. It does not have the three-leaf pattern. You are less likely to ever encounter poison sumac.
• Avoid forest or other outdoor wood or leaf fires, if one of the three toxic plants may be burning.
ENCOURAGEMENT—Amid all the perils of life, we need help from God. The shield of His grace can preserve us from yielding to temptation to sin. But we must submit our lives to God if we would have this help.
The 4th
update of this encyclopedia is bigger and better than ever!