Allergy

 
What are allergies?

Allergies are also defined as hypersensitivities. They are a group of disorders caused by a body reaction to an allergen or a trigger that stimulates your immune system and starts a cascade of chemical reactions that end up with bodily changes such as skin rash, itchiness, coughing asthma, and severe cases, it may be fatal.

How can we diagnose allergies?

Allergies can be diagnosed either clinically by observing how the body reacts to different triggers for example when you are exposed to dust or pollen, and you develop sneezing or excessive coughing this is a form of allergy called environmental allergy. This type of allergy is called an immediate hypersensitivity reaction or allergy as it happens in a very short time after exposure to the triggers.

On the other hand, sometimes allergies happen after a long time of exposure to an allergen which may range from days to weeks, this type of allergy is called delayed hypersensitivity reaction or allergy, and it may be very difficult or sometimes impossible to identify the trigger in this case, and we need to do a special test to know the cause of allergies. An example of a medical test used to diagnose an allergy is the food sensitivity test. Food sensitivity testing can identify more than 200 food elements that your body can be allergic to including not only the known allergy triggers such as wheat and dairy but also the healthy foods that are not expected to cause allergies, however, many people were found allergic to them recently such as cucumber, celery, and orange. A recent research published in the immunotherapy journal in 2014 highlighted the importance of doing food sensitivity testing to diagnose and treat different types of allergies. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4121393/ 

Can naturopathic doctors treat your allergies?

Most patients with allergies can benefit from the naturopathic care. The main line of care from the naturopathic side is to look for the root cause of the problem abs start working on its elimination and avoidance of being exposed to it or at least minimizing exposure to it. The other line of treatment is based on modulating the immune response of the body to the allergen not just suppressing the immune system. 

Still, have questions? Need help?

Contact the clinic through this link

https://www.ontarionaturopathicclinic.ca/site/contact-naturpathic-dr-grimsby-niagara