By Dr. Joseph Mercola
     with Rachael Droege

An allergy results when a person has an abnormally high sensitivity to a normally harmless substance. This can be broken down into more descriptive terms, such as multiple chemical sensitivities, food sensitivities, environmental illness or intolerances, but at the most basic level an allergy is simply a reaction to something that doesn't necessarily affect other people.

This broad definition is fitting because the causes and symptoms of allergies are extremely diverse.

A person may be allergic to a virtually unlimited list of items such as:

	Naturally occurring food		Artificial food additives
	Drinking water		Synthetic products
	Perfumes		Natural gas
	Electromagnetic radiation		Yeast or Fungi
	Environmental chemicals such as paint, gasoline and cleaning solvents
	Chemicals such as formaldehyde, ammonia or ethanol

And allergy symptoms, which can be immediate or delayed, include:

	Rash		Nasal congestion		Headache
	Nausea		Coughing		Dark circles under the eyes
	Diarrhea		Heart palpitations		Eczema
	Fatigue		Dizziness		Disorientation
	Stomach pain		Watery eyes		Wheezing
	Joint or muscle pain		Depression		Insomnia

Traditional medicine and natural medicine view allergies in very different ways. The traditional medical view is that the allergy is a result of the patient being sick or of their body malfunctioning. Natural medicine, on the other hand, views allergies as a result of the patient's chemical/allergen exposure and dietary habits. In this way, it is the patient's environment that is sick, not the patient.

Although traditional allergy treatments are one of the traditional paradigm's safer and better approaches, it has great room for improvement. My experience with conventional allergy testing, whether done through the blood (RAST) or skin, is that only 20 percent to 30 percent of patients do exceptionally well with it. It is also highly inconvenient, as patients need to go to the doctor's office every week for months or years. It clearly does not work for the majority of patients.

For the last 10 years I have been using a much-improved version of this testing, which is taught by the American Academy of Environmental Medicine, called provocation neutralization (PN). Provocation refers to "provoking a change" and neutralization refers to "neutralizing the reaction caused by provocation." The success rate for this approach is in the 80 percent to 90 percent range, and patients can receive their treatment at home.

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During provocation-neutralization, a small amount of allergen is injected under the skin to produce a small bump called a "wheal" and then monitored for a reaction. If the person is found to have a positive reaction, such as fatigue, headache or a growth in the wheal, then the allergen is neutralized with diluted injections, or drops that go in the mouth, of the same allergen.

Although a course of PN treatment and testing can run about $1,000 to $2,000, this is less than many patients are already spending on one year's worth of allergy medicines, and it is a long-term solution that will, in most cases, provide a permanent treatment. There are also virtually no side effects with the treatment, unlike with conventional drugs. If you are interested in receiving this treatment, which we offer here at The Optimal Wellness Center, please review our new patient information.

It is important to remember that the PN program is in addition to, not a replacement for, a comprehensive nutritional approach, as most people's allergies dramatically improve when they follow the nutrition plan.

In terms of diet, avoiding sugar, fruit juices, most grains and pasteurized dairy products is nearly always helpful. Replacing commercial milk with raw milk from grass-fed cows is also usually well tolerated and highly health promoting.

Making certain that enough long-chain omega-3 fats (DHA and EPA) from fish oils are included in your diet is also helpful. I find Carlson fish oil and cod liver oil to be one of the most superior brands available as it conforms to the strictest guidelines for purity and freshness. It is available in most health food stores, and Carlson fish oil and cod liver oil are also available in our online store.

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