Allergies

2. Allergies

Most people welcome spring and summer and look forward to these months as the best time of the year. To most people, the first signs of spring brings joy and anticipation of outdoor activities, beautiful spring flowers, the opportunity to garden and enjoy the fresh produce from their backyard. Some, however, dread this time of the year because they merely look forward to feeling miserable and sick until the leaves fall and winter has once again arrived. These people are said to be “allergic.” They are sensitive to pollens, weeds, grasses, trees, dust, insects and assorted other things in our normal environment.

Typical symptoms include sneezing, wheezing, watery eyes, itchy eyelids and the like. Other symptoms may include redness and inflammation of the skin with itching and draining of fluid.

2.1 Disease Is Abnormal

All disease, whether it is a cold, flu, asthma or allergies, is abnormal. The body always strives to maintain a state of health which is normal. If the need arises, the body is capable of taking measures to maintain this state through the extraordinary elimination. To effect this, the body institutes a healing crisis which we call illness or disease.

When toxic waste products and toxic ingesta accumulate in the tissues beyond the body’s toleration point, an effort will be made to expel them through various channels. These channels are the skin, lungs, mucous membranes, bowels; kidneys; etc. Individuals who are said to be “allergic” are experiencing a perpetual “healing crisis” by way of the mucous membranes of the nose, throat, bronchi or through the skin. The toxins being voided via this route sensitize these organs so that pollens, dust, hairs, etc., initiate a defensive reaction such as sneezing, runny nose, etc. The pollen is thus not a primary cause but an exacerbating factor.

2.2 Only Some People Are Sensitive

Does it make sense that people should be “allergic” to things in their normal environment? If pollen, trees, flowers, ragweed, grasses, etc., are poisonous, should not everyone be affected? These items are part of our environment, and we live symbiotically with all plant life and its effluvia. Plants are not something for us to avoid and dread but to enjoy and appreciate for their beauty and usefulness. We also live in harmony with animal life.

During the summer months, the “allergic” individual often seals himself indoors and attempts to remove himself from the substances to which he is sensitive. However, instead of searching out the items to which a person may be sensitive, attempts should be made to discover the reason for this abnormal sensitivity.

2.3 Antibody-Antigen Theory

The development of the antibody-antigen theory was presumed primarily on the idea that bacteria and “viruses” cause disease and that we must somehow create “immunity” from the “invasion” of these agents. The antibody-antigen theory also gave the scientists a basis for the practice of vaccination.

According to the generally accepted medical theory, the “immune” response resists invasion by infectious microorganisms. Two “immune” systems are distinguished; in each a different population of lymphocytes is activated and a different agent combats the invasion. In one, the B-cell system, the response is mediated by proteins, called antibodies. In the other, the T-cell system, the response is mediated by specialized cells sensitized to foreign substances. The B-cell system is said to be most effective against acute bacterial “infections,” such as those caused by streptococci, pneumococci, and some “influenza” bacilli and meningococci, and against “viral reinfections.” The T-cell system is most active in combating “viruses,” fungi and bacteria causing chronic “infections.” This theory is misleading.

Disease is the consequence of an accumulation of toxic materials in the tissues due to unhealthful living. We cannot make ourselves immune to such consequences while we still persist in unhealthful living habits. The body initiates the disease (healing) process to eliminate toxins in order to preserve health. There is no “immunity” against this healing process. Also, bacteria and viruses do not cause disease. As explained, disease is a vital process of healing and bacteria have a role to perform in this process. They act as scavengers cleaning up toxic debris and as soon as their role is completed, their, numbers will decline. For this reason, they are associated with disease processes, but are not its cause. They no more cause disease than flies cause garbage. “Viruses” are cellular debris—they are the genetic material from dead cells. As dead material, viruses are toxic and pathogenic but not malevolent.

The entire theory of antibody-antigen is based on false ideas concerning the nature of disease. It is said that both B- and T-cells are lymphocytes and are produced in the red bone marrow and thymus gland. These cells are said to be found in the lymph, the bloodstream, and lymphoid tissue, which constitute the bulk of lymphoid organs. Lymphocytes are white blood cells which are present in the blood of all healthy individuals. Like all white blood cells, they perform important defensive functions, however, creating “immunity” to body-initiated disease is not one of their functions.

The triggering agents of the so-called immune response are called antigens. Antigens are said to provoke rapid cell division, with the formation of distinct clones (colonies of cells arising from a single parent cell) in lymphoid tissue. The cells thus produced by successive cell division are said to become more and more specialized. The end result of B-cell proliferation is the formation of cells, called plasma cells, that manufacture identical antibodies constructed to combine selectively with the triggering antigen.

It is thought that if a person was inoculated with a specific antigen, production of antibodies would occur to build up “immunity” against that particular antigen. This is the theory behind vaccinations. However, there is a wealth of documented evidence that many more deaths resulted from the vaccines themselves than from the diseases they were supposed to prevent. Vaccines are composed of poisonous materials and are always harmful when injected into the bloodstream. Also, with the knowledge of the true nature of disease and the need for this healing process, it makes the vaccination theory even more invalid.

Since antibodies are proteins classified as globulins and are said to have immunological properties, they are called immunoglobins. There are supposed to be five classes of immunoglobulins but the so-called IgE is the most common. IgE antibodies are called reagins; antigens that react with IgE are called allergens. When allergens enter the body and react with reagins which are affixed to mast cells, the mast cells rupture and release massive amounts of histamine and other substances. This reaction is said to be the cause of the symptoms of allergic reactions such as the swelling in the nasal passages with hay fever and in the skin with hives.

Histamine is a substance secreted as a normal part of the inflammatory reaction which is part of a healing process. This substance is kept in proper balance by the body’s homeostatic controls. When too much histamine is present (in the body, a substance called histaminase will be released to reduce the amount of histamine in the blood or tissues.

The entire concept of the antibody-antigen reaction was created on erroneous concepts of the germ theory, immunity and vaccinations. It is not valid as you’ll see.

2.4 Underlying Cause of Allergies

It is more important to know what makes one sensitive than to know what he is sensitive to. Most allergy sufferers have chronic catarrh and have had it for many years, even before manifesting signs of sensitivity. Even after the “allergy season” has past they still suffer from catarrh and experience frequent colds during the winter.

What caused the chronic need for the body to eliminate its toxins in this manner? The causes may be many but basically it is unhealthful living that creates the problem. Overeating or eating in unsuitable combinations, lack of exercise, impure drinking water, living in unventilated houses or working and living in smoke-filled rooms, lack of sleep and rest or stress and emotional upsets may be the underlying factors in the development of catarrh in the mucous membranes, resulting in sensitivity to certain irritants. The lining of the membranes become inflamed and very sensitive to irritation. Inflammation that renders the membrane abnormally sensitive to the normal elements of man’s environment.

Inflammation is a symptom of healing and if causes are removed, healing will be swiftly completed. If a person continues to live healthfully thereafter, there will be no further need for the disease (healing) process.

2.5 What Not To Do

Many allergy sufferers are given anti-inflammatory drugs to suppress the uncomfortable symptoms that they are experiencing. Cortisone is one drug often prescribed and most often given, through injection, by the physician. At best, cortisone only reduces the symptoms for a brief length of time after which symptoms reappear and another injection is given. Much harm is done through this poisonous practice.

When hormones are injected into the body from without, the body’s delicate balance of action and reaction to maintain homeostasis is disrupted. Anti-inflammatory corticoids include cortisol and cortisone which are secreted by the adrenal glands that are located on top of each kidney. Normally these hormones are secreted when a messenger lets them know that they are needed. This messenger is called ACTH (adrenocorticotrophic hormone) which is secreted by the pituitary gland. The adrenals can also produce pro-inflammatory corticoids; but this is regulated by a variety of complex factors, among which ACTH plays only a minor role compared to renal blood pressure regulators and electrolytes.

By changing the proportion between pro- and anti-inflammatory stimuli, the body can regulate inflammation in response to local injury.

All other outside agents such as antihistamines, decongestants, etc., are harmful and suppress (depress) the healing ability of the body. Inasmuch as they do not remove the causes of allergy, there can be no correction.