Allergy And Hyperactivity In Children

7. Allergy And Hyperactivity In Children

7.1 History

As early as 1908, reports were published in medical literature stating that some children were noted to be fretful, irritable, restless and unable to sleep if they ate certain foods. It was wondered if some children had an allergy that affected their brain or nervous system rather than the lungs as in asthma or the nose as in hay fever. Early investigators often described some children as being extremely tired or fatigued rather than overactive. Sometimes the same child was too tired at certain times and too hyperactive at other times. Others noted that foods seemed to change some children’s behavior so that they acted depressed, hostile or irritable. As the years passed, it was observed that pollens, dust, molds and certain odors such as perfumes could cause similar reactions in some patients.

In 1930, Albert Rowe described a condition which he called “food toxemia.” In a book entitled Food Allergy, he and his son recounted numerous patients who had drowsiness, irritability, fatigue, weakness, slowness and inability to behave. He devised very strict diets that appeared to help many patients who had typical forms of allergy, as well as nervous-system problems. Dr. Rowe firmly believed that foods, as well as pollens and dust, could contribute to psychological and nervous-system problems in some patients.

During the 1940s and 1950s more and more reports described similar patients. Dr. Theron Randolph described “allergic fatigue.” He stressed that, at times, affected children and adults acted normal, but after eating certain foods or being exposed to offending odors or chemical substances, their behavior became distinctly abnormal. Some became very tired, others hyperactive. He noted affected individuals often had a rather pale face but were not anemic, and had swelling and black circles under their eyes.

In 1975, Dr. Ben F. Feingold of San Francisco wrote a book entitled Why Your Child Is Hyperactive, which was publicized quickly throughout the nation. In this book, he states that he believes hyperactivity is mainly due to artificial food coloring, artificial flavors, and salicylates.

Hygienists know that foods do not have the property to act upon the body. However, unwholesome foods such as those which are highly processed and contaminated with chemicals can intoxicate the body. In certain individuals who are prone to nervous conditions, the accumulation of these toxins could result in hyperactivity and other abnormal behavior. In these individuals, the brain and nervous systems demonstrate the effects of unhealthful living.

7.2 Symptoms

In her book, Allergies and the Hyperactive Child, Dr. Doris J. Rapp describes the symptoms of children who are considered to be allergic and have a central nervous system diathesis.

Nervous System Symptoms

1. Hyperactive, wild, unrestrained
2. Talkative (explosive, stuttering, constant)
3. Inattentive, disruptive, impulsive
4. Short attention span
5. Restless legs, finger tapping
6. Clumsiness, incoordination, tremor
7. Insomnia, nightmares, inability to fall asleep
8. Nervous, irritable, upset, short-tempered
9. High-strung, excitable, agitated
10. Moody, tired, weak, weary, exhausted, listless, depressed
11. Easily moved to tears, easily hurt
12. Highly sensitive to odor, light, sound, pain, and cold

Other Physiological Symptoms

1. Nose: year-round stuffiness, watery nose, sneezing, nose rubbing
2. Aches: head, back, neck, muscles, or joints, or aches unrelated to exercise
3. Stomach problems: stomach aches, nausea, upset stomach, bloating, bad breath, gassy stomach, belching, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation
4. Bladder problems: wetting pants in daytime or in bed, need to rush to urinate, burning or pain with urination
5. Face: pale, dark eye circles, puffiness below eyes
6. Glands: swelling of lymph nodes of neck
7. Ear problems: repeated formation of fluid behind eardrums, ringing ears, dizziness
8. Excessive perspiration
9. Low-grade fever

The above symptoms are all indications of toxicosis. Clearly, the body is attempting to eliminate toxins through the many and varied channels that it has for this purpose. Toxins are thus eliminated through the mucous membranes of the nose, through the urine via the kidneys, through the glands, etc. Indigestion from eating wrong foods results in pain, nausea, and other symptoms listed.

7.3 Determining the Cause

Great effort is made to determine what foods these children are allergic to. Finding these individual foods does not remedy the problem if the underlying cause still persists.

Dr. Rapp suggests going through a certain procedure to determine which foods are causing the adverse reactions. Once this is determined, this food is diluted into homeopathic doses, and given back to the child with an eye-dropper under his tongue. One drop is usually given. The child is then allowed to eat the food he was allergic to without restriction. This procedure cannot restore health.

All children who demonstrate food “allergies” have a history of consuming large amounts of junk foods: highly-processed food such as potato chips, salty french fries, candy, cakes, soda pop, etc. These foods quickly contribute to a toxic condition and the body must eliminate them in order to maintain balance.

The foods to which Dr. Rapp found most children “allergic” include milk, wheat, sugar, eggs, chocolate and food dyes. All of these foods contain toxic properties and will result in toxicosis in everyone who consumes them. Some children with neurotic diathesis become hyperactive, others may develop colds, others may develop asthma or tonsilitis or something else.

Mother’s breast milk is the perfect food for babies, but after weaning they don’t need it, especially not cow’s milk. We lose the ability to properly digest milk because of the lack of the enzyme lactase to convert the lactose in in milk to glucose and galactose. Improperly-digested milk ferments in the stomach and contributes to toxicosis.

Wheat is a highly acid-forming product. It is almost always ground into flour, made into bread and pastries and combined with other unwholesome and incompatible substances.

We all know sugar is bad for us. It is a highly-refined product totally without nutrients and therefore depletes needed minerals from our bones and tissues. It is one of the main causes of many degenerative diseases such as osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, hypoglycemia and others.

Eggs are hard to digest, have a high-cholesterol level. and contain many toxic elements including
avidin which binds biotin, (a B-vitamin) and makes it unavailable for use within the body.

Chocolate and cocoa interfere with calcium assimilation in the body and contain theobromine which has the same bad effects as caffeine. Food dyes are poisons and should never be consumed. All of the aforementioned foods are harmful to everyone and should never be eaten. It is therefore useless to try to determine which is the worst offender. They are all bad.

7.4 Finding the Cause Behind the Cause

While living near Buffalo, New York, I attended a lecture given by Dr. Doris Rapp on “Hyperactivity in Children.” During the lecture, she showed movies of children who were under her care and who demonstrated severe reactions to certain foods. One child was shown calmly playing with some toys in her office. He was then given a slice of “Wonder Bread” and was instructed to eat the entire slice. Before the child had it half eaten, he started throwing “temper tantrums”—crying, whining, etc. He would throw things across the room and, at one point, he tried to hit his mother and was apparently almost entirely out of control.

What would cause such a sudden change in behavior. The food had not even had time to begin digestion and enter into the bloodstream. Why would the child exhibit such behavior, when another child would not, after eating the same food?

This child’s body was in such a toxic condition and his nervous system and brain had become so sensitized, that an immediate severe reaction took place as soon as the exciting agent entered the body. What caused this toxic condition? This is where we get to the underlying reason for this child’s “allergy.” The primary cause is unhealthful living—wrong food is usually a major consideration. No child who eats only fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds in their raw and unadulterated form will demonstrate such abnormal behavior. In addition to this, it is important that all of the other conditions for health are met. These are proper rest and sleep, exercise, sunshine, fresh air and pure water. When these conditions are met, the body will heal and maintain a healthy state.