Friday, September 23, 2011

Sniffles, Coughs and Congestion

It's that time of year! Along with cooler temperatures comes ragweed and other inhaled allergens, which seem to irritate just about everyone this time of year.


Over the counter antihistamines for symptom relief are not the best option, because they can dry the sinuses and actually thicken mucous which traps irritants and can lead to infection. Much more, they lead to fatigue, lethargy and generally an unwell feeling.

Believe it or not, that runny nose and those watering eyes are doing just what they are designed to do. Get the irritants out of your body. Unfortunately, blowing your nose until you look like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is not really much fun.

The cells which release histamine are called mast cells. These cells are specifically designed to be sensitive to allergens and when they come in contact with an allergen they burst. This releases histamine and leukotrienes into the blood stream which causes symptoms such as; runny nose, watery eyes, itchy red skin and other reactions commonly associated with allergies. These symptoms can be mild or, in some cases, life threatening depending on the level of sensitivity.

So what do we recommend? Prevention, of course!
In this day and age, exposure to toxins and other allergens cause the body to become fatigued, over sensitive and over stimulated. Because of this, more people experience allergies than in past generations. Our solution to most allergy type reactions is to help the body be less sensitive. Strengthening the immune system and empowering the mast cells to be a little less sensitive can reduce allergy symptoms by preventing the release of histamine and leukotrienes. We recommend a product called Hist-X which helps to desenensitize mast cells to outside stimulus and prevent those pesky symptoms from happening.

Hist-X is only available at our office and it works well for most allergy symptoms.




If you would like to see a video of how this mast cell process works you can view it on you tube here.