Allergies – The Orthodox View and Treatment



Allergies – The Orthodox View and Treatment

(Adapted from information on Wikipedia – not definitive!)

Pharmaceutical Treatment

1. Antagonistic (work against) drugs are used to block the action of allergic mediators or to prevent activation of cells and degranulation processes (i.e. processes that cause cells to release chemical activators). The following table gives a summary of these drugs:

|Drug type |How it works |Effects |Side effects |Conditions |

|Antihistamine |Usually attaches to H1 |Reduces effect of histamine. |Drowsiness , headaches, difficulty in passing urine, dry |Hay fever; allergic rhinitis (symptoms suffered by |

| |receptor sites so histamine | |mouth, blurred vision, feeling sick or vomiting, |3.3 million, about 5.5% of the population) |

| |cannot attach. | |constipation or diarrhoea. |Allergies to medicines (aspirin), migraine |

| | | | |symptoms, severe morning sickness, travel or motion|

| | | | |sickness. Creams used for hives and stings. |

| | | | |Allergic conjunctivitis. Sedating types used to |

| | | | |stop itch/scratch cycle in eczema. |

|Cortisone (hydrocortisone) |Steroid hormone, the inactive|Immunosuppressant, anti inflammatory. |Elevates blood sugar in diabetics, thinning of the skin, |Hay fever, asthma, anaphylaxis, angioedema (sudden |

| |precursor molecule of the | |easy bruising, weight gain, puffiness of the face, |swelling of skin & mucosa), rashes, eczema, |

| |active hormone cortisol. | |elevation of blood pressure, cataract formation, thinning |psoriasis and other inflammatory skin conditions. |

| | | |of the bones (osteoporosis) and a rare but serious damage | |

| | | |to the bones of the large joints (avascular necrosis – | |

| | | |temp. or permanent loss of blood supply to the bones). | |

|Drug type |How it works |Effects |Side effects |Conditions |

|Dexamethasone |Synthetic member of |Anti- inflammatory, immunosuppressant. |Stomach upset, glucose intolerance, osteoporosis, muscular|Inflammatory and autoimmune conditions (rheumatoid |

| |glucocorticoid class of |Potency is 20-30 times more than |atrophy, immunosuppressant, liver degeneration, depression|arthritis), after dental surgery (if cheeks |

| |steroid hormones |hydrocortisone |of adrenals, hypertension, dermatological and ocular |swollen),treatment for plantar fasciitis, to |

| | | |problems |counteract allergic anaphylactic shock, eye drops |

| | | | |and nasal sprays, before antibiotics in bacterial |

| | | | |meningitis, given to cancer patients to counteract |

| | | | |tumour medication |

| | | | | |

|Theophylline |Member of the xanthine |Relaxes bronchial smooth muscle, increases |Nausea, diarrhoea, increase in heart rate, arrhythmia, CNS|Chronic obstructive diseases of the airways, |

| |family, it bears structural |heart muscle contractility and efficiency, |excitation (headaches, insomnia, irritability, dizziness, |chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchial |

| |and pharmacologic-al |increases heart rate, increases blood |lightheadedness) Can reach toxic levels if taken with |asthma, infant apnoea |

| |similarity to caffeine, found|pressure, increases renal flow, some |fatty foods. Negative drug interactions include | |

| |naturally in tea |anti-inflammatory effects, CNS stimulatory |erythromycin(antibiotic for those allergic to aspirin), | |

| | |effect mainly on the medullary respiratory |cimetidine (histamine H2 antagonist-Tagamet) and | |

| | |centre |fluoroquinolones (pneumonias) | |

| | | | | |

|Drug type |How it works |Effects |Side effects |Conditions |

|Adrenaline (used mostly in |Hormone and neurotransmitter,|Boosts the supply of oxygen and glucose to |Palpitations, tachycardia, arrhythmia, anxiety, headache, |Cardiac arrest/ dysrhythmia, anaphylaxis, sepsis |

|cases of anaphylaxis) |catecholamine - derived from |the brain and muscles, while suppressing |tremor, hypertension and acute pulmonary oedema. Us is |(blood poisoning). |

| |the amino acids phenylalanine|other non-emergency bodily processes |contraindicated for patients on non-selective B-blockers |Used for allergy patients undergoing immunotherapy |

| |and tyrosine. |(digestion), increases heart rate and stroke |because severe hypertension and even cerebral haemorrhage |to lessen effects of immune response (see below). |

| | |volume, dilates the pupils, and constricts |may result |Bronchodilator for asthma, contained in some nasal |

| | |arterioles in the skin and gastrointestinal | |sprays to open air passages |

| | |tract while dilating arterioles in skeletal | | |

| | |muscles. It elevates the blood sugar level by| | |

| | |increasing catabolism of glycogen to glucose | | |

| | |in the liver and at the same time begins the | | |

| | |breakdown of lipids in fat cells, suppressive| | |

| | |effect on the immune system. | | |

|Cromolyn sodium |Prevents the release of |Prevents the release of mediators that would |Severe rash either internally or externally |Nasal spray to treat allergic rhinitis, an inhaler |

| |inflammatory chemicals such |normally attract inflammatory cells and | |for preventive management of asthma, as eye drops |

| |as histamine from mast cells.|because it stabilizes the inflammatory cells,| |for allergic conjunctivitis or in an oral form to |

| |Derived from Egyptian plant |it inhibits exaggerated reflexes triggered by| |treat mastocytosis (too many mast cells), |

| |‘khellin’ |stimulation of irritant receptors on sensory | |dermatographic urticaria(weak membrane of mast |

| | |nerve endings (e.g. exercise-induced asthma) | |cells reacting to rubbing by dull object and |

| | | | |producing ‘skin writing’), ulcerative colitis. |

2. Anti- leukotrienes: used for the maintenance treatment of asthma and to relieve symptoms of seasonal allergies. It blocks the action of leukotriene D4 in the lungs and bronchial tubes by binding to its receptor. This reduces the bronchoconstriction otherwise caused by the leukotriene, and results in less inflammation.

3. Anti-cholinergics: when inhaled relaxes the bronchial muscles and acts as a dilator. They block contraction of bronchial smooth muscle and decrease mucous secretion. They also prevent the release of certain allergenic mediators from mast cells. Can’t be used with soy or peanut allergies and side effects include restlessness, dizziness, headache, intestinal distress, blurred vision, hoarseness, cough, palpitations and urinary obstruction.

4. Decongestants: (e.g. Sudafed, Actifed) used for nasal and sinus congestion and work by reducing swelling of the mucous membranes in the nasal passages, although they can increase hypertension (blood pressure) through vasoconstriction. Topical nasal or ophthalmic decongestants used regularly results in a rapidly decreasing response to them. The body’s response of mucous production enables the cleansing of the affecting allergen; if this is reversed the natural cleansing cannot take place.

Immunotherapy - Desensitisation

• Desensitisation or hyposensitisation is a treatment in which the patient is gradually vaccinated with progressively larger doses of the allergen in question.

• This can either reduce the severity or eliminate hypersensitivity altogether.

• In a sense, the person builds up immunity to increasing amounts of the allergen in question.

Monoclonal Immunotherapy

• A second form of immunotherapy involves the intravenous injection of monoclonal (identical monospecific) anti-IgE antibodies.

• These bind to free and B-cell associated IgE; signaling their destruction.

• They do not bind to IgE already bound to the Fc receptor on basophils and mast cells, as this would stimulate the allergic inflammatory response.

• While this form of immunotherapy is very effective in treating several types of hypersensitivity reactions, such as hay fever, asthma, or chronic urticaria, it should not be used in treating the majority of people with food allergies. Naturopathically, vaccinations increase the stress placed on the body, exhausting adrenals, bypassing the normal defence systems and thereby dehydrating too.

Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT)

• An orally-administered therapy which takes advantage of oral immune tolerance to non-pathogenic antigens such as foods and resident bacteria.

• It is a method of allergy treatment that uses an allergen solution given under the tongue which, over the course of treatment, reduces sensitivity to allergens.

• It is claimed that SLIT has a very good safety profile and is given at home to adults and children.

• This therapy currently accounts for 40 percent of allergy treatment in Europe. In the United States sublingual immunotherapy is gaining support among traditional allergists and is endorsed by doctors who treat allergy.

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