Your guide to the region's top events, mixed with some commentary about life, media, gossip and politics in Washington, DC.
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Washingtoniana: Allergy City
In this week’s edition of Washingtoniana—our Thursday feature where we collect your questions about Washington and do some sleuthing to find the answers—we find out why people in Washington seem to get more allergies than elsewhere, even if they weren’t allergic to anything before arriving in the area.
By
Jesseka Kadylak
Pollen, pollen everywhere.
“I’ve heard that the reason people get so many allergies in DC that they’ve never had before is because the embassies all import their native floral and fauna and it affects people. Is there any truth to that?” —Mandy
In 2005, Ken Adelman interviewed an allergist for The Washingtonian to figure out why locals sneeze so much. One reason people with fall and spring pollen allergies have a difficult time in Washington is because the area has a high rate of asthma, according to Dr. Howard Boltansky.
“Between one-fifth and one-fourth of Americans have some type of allergy—Washington has a slightly higher proportion per population,” he said. Some people inherit allergies from their parents, but 10 to 15 percent of people develop them naturally. With the high rate of asthma in inner cities, Boltansky explained, many residents form life-threatening allergic asthma because they don’t have access to primary-care physicians, allergists, or pulmonary doctors.
Additionally, Washington has more than 230,000 acres of parkland and gardens, according to Washington.org. Boltansky said that because DC has more grass and trees than other cities such as New York, there’s a higher pollen count, which makes allergies more prevalent. He said that pollen counts in the spring are the highest of any season in this area. In recent years, counts have been up to 50 times more than normal, which means people who aren’t even allergic are affected. Ragweed affects allergies until the first frost, and mold and dust allergies endure year-round but seem worse in the winter because people spend more time in the heated indoors.
While embassies might import native floral and fauna, that’s not the cause of new allergy issues. After spending a few years exposed to the spring and fall pollen, Boltansky said, people who move to Washington and didn’t have allergies before will develop them. Your body can learn to be allergic to something from repeated exposure.
To keep the itchy eyes and sniffly noses away, Boltansky prescribed a few remedies: reduce dust-collecting items, especially in the bedroom, try a high-efficiency particulate air filter, make sure air-conditioner filters are kept clean during warmer months, and ask your office manager to check the carpets for dust mites.
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1 in 3 Infants Begin LIFE Fighting the Progression of Allergy Disease.
ALLERGY is Directly / InDirectly Implicated in the following Disease Conditions:
SKIN: Eczema / Rash / Dermatitis / Urticaria / Acne / Psoriasis / Alopecia / Warts / Leucoderma
Respiratory: Allergic ASTHMA / Bronchial ASTHMA / Chronic Cough / Chronic Cold / Allergic Rhinitis / Sinusitis / Sinus Infections / Conjunctivitis / Tonsillitis / Wheezing / Snoring / Sleep Apnea
Digestive: Leaky Gut / Irritable Bowel / Acid Reflux / Wright Gain / Stomatitis / Heart Burn / Peptic Ulcers / Constipation / Diarrhea / Flatulence.
Psychological: Depression / Chronic Fatigue / Autism / ADHD / HeadAches / Immune system Weakness
MusculoSkeletal: Rheumatoid Arthritis / Myalgia / Sciatica / Spondylosis / Cramps
ALLERGIES Weaken Immune System & Steal Capacity to Fight What Really Matters !
IT goes without saying that it is Very Important to Keep Your Immune System at PEAK Performance.
Many of us Try our Best to Eat Properly, take Supplements, Exercise Regularly, Get the right amount of Sleep and perhaps practice Stress Relief Techniques such as Yoga, Prayer or Meditation.
Unfortunately, Today’s Fast Paced, High Stress World often Chips Away at our best Efforts often leaving our Immune System in Less than a Peak Performance State of Affair.
One often overlooked aspect of Immune System Health relates to our ALLERGIES and how they compromise the overall Health of our ( and our Children’s ) Immune System.
Try as we might to Control their nagging and draining Symptoms by taking multiple Medications, those pesky ALLERGIES just keep right on coming and coming… They just Do NOT Go Away !
While in the past, ALLERGIES have barely been a Blip on the Medical Radar Screen, regarded as a nuisance, only to be tolerated and controlled by taking Medications… …
Today… More and More….
ALLERGIES and the multiple Diseases that they instigate over the course of a LifeTime are being recognized for the True Enemy to an Individuals Immune System / Health that they ARE !
Beginning in the Womb and manifesating itself immediately after Birth ( 1 in 3 Infants ), Allergies account for more office visits to Pediatricians than any other ailment, besides the common Cold ( Q&A: When is a Cold NOT a Cold ? When it’s Allergies. ).
Allergies are responsible for more missed school days than any other medical problem. It is thought that at least one out of every four children has an allergy of some kind. Allergies are often Inherited. Lending credence to the old saying That the Child Allergy Apple Does Not Fall Far from the Parent Allergy Tree. Statistics show that a child with one allergic parent has a 45-50% chance of developing allergies, and the likelihood rises to between 65-70% if both parents have allergies. Remarkably, even if both parents are allergy-free, offspring will still run an allergy risk of 10-15%.
For far to long, ALLERGIES have been regarded as merely a Nuisance, Ignored or “Treated” with Medications which Only mask Symptoms and Do Nothing to Derail / Neutralize the Progression of a Sufferer’s Allergy Disease Source.
While Allergy rarely Kills ( unless you count Allergic Asthma Attack Deaths ), as UnTreated / UnNeutralized Allergy Progresses thru it’s various Disease States, it compromises not only a Sufferers LifeTime of Health, but every aspect of their Personal, Family, Academic, Social, Exercise and Professional Quality of Life.
It is IMPORTANT to Remember that…
24 / 7/ 365 / ALLERGY is a LifeTime > Cumulative, Progressive Chronic AutoImmune Disease.
UnTreated ALLERGY Continues / Exacerbates…
Leading to Unabated Disease Progression…
And a LifeTime, Slippery Slope of further multiple Diseases, Health Complications, Weakened Immune System
and severely Compromised Quality of Health.
Thus Said….
Your Immune System Only has a certain amount of “ Capacity “ to Fight ALL the Diseases, Foreign Invaders, Bacteria, Germs, Viruses that it encounters EveryDay …
As such, it is IMPORTANT that Your Immune System is NOT “ Distracted “ OR some of it’s limited Disease Fighting “ Capacity “ Consumed to Fight Harmless things like Grass / Tree / Weed Pollens, Insect, Dust Mite, Mold Allergens etc > Namely ALLERGIES.
What many Allergy / Allergic Asthma Sufferers Do Not Know……
Is that they CAN Free Up that amount of Immune System Capacity which has been designated to Fight 24 / 7 / 365 / A LifeTime their Allergy Disease….
And it All starts with a visit to their Trusted, Personal Primary Care Physician.
>> A simple painless Blood ALLERGY Test for the most common Seasonal & Year-round Allergens specific to YOUR Geo-Region will tell YOU and Your Physician WHAT You Are Allergic TO !
>> Once your Offending Allergens are Identified, Your Physician will prescribe DRUG Free, Under-the-Tongue ImmunoTherapy DROPs.
>> Following the SAME Medically prepared, ImmunoTherapy Principals used for traditional Allergy SHOTs, Your DROPs contain small traces of pure FDA Approved Extracts of Your offending Allergen Sources i.e. RagWeed, Mite, Cat, Cockroach etc.
Your DROPs are Custom Formulated specifically to WHAT You Are Allergic TO Based on YOUR Allergy Test Result !
Slowly over Time, Your Allergy Drop Allergen Extract Concentrations are increased, allowing Your Bodies Immune System to rely on its inherent Recuperative Abilities and Recalibrate Itself.
Thereby… No Longer See’ing Harmless Allergens as Harmful, Neutralizing Your Allergies at the Disease Source, No longer Triggering Allergy Symptoms, Eradicating Allergy Complications and………… Producing Lasting, if Not LifeTime Benefits !
Allergy ImmunoTherapy is the only proven Clinical Form of Therapy that:
>> Reduces / Eliminates the need for Allergy Medications
>> Reverses / Stops the Allergy Disease Process at the Source.
>> DeRailing the LifeTime, Slippery Slope / Progression of Diseases CAUSED by Allergy
>> AND…. Freeing UP YOUR Immune System’s Capacity to Fight What Really Counts !
Effortless to use in Today’s Fast Paced 24 / 7 Society and Costing less than a Coffee Shop visit a Day, painful Allergy Shots have been replaced with Patient FRIENDLY, Under-the-Tongue, SubLingual Allergy DROPS which are absorbed into the Patient’s System within seconds each Morning and Night.
“ If there was ever an Example of the Adage: An Ounce of Daily Prevention Vs a Pound of LifeTime Misery and UnEnding Efforts to Cure… it is Allergy Immuno-Therapy DROPs… It’s a LifeTime Health No Brainer.
Speak with Your Primary Care PHYSICIAN Today and tell him / her that you want to….
Visit > Drop Your Allergies !
Remember… ALLERGIES Are Nothing to SNEEZE AT !
Got ALLERGIES ? WHY ?
We CAN Help !
Posted by: DropYourAllergies, Dec 01, 2008 08:18:08 AM
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