Allergies and Immune Issues
Unlocking the Power of Functional Medicine: Overcoming Allergies and Immune Issues
Allergies and immune issues affect millions of people worldwide, including one in five Americans. These issues can be due to various reasons like genetics, environmental factors, or lifestyle. In this article, we will discuss allergies and immune issues, the latest research, and how functional medicine can help to overcome these issues.
Allergy symptoms often include itchy eyes, sneezing, sinus congestion, and other issues. Allergies can be caused by many different things: pollen, food, pet dander, and many other substances that you may come into contact with in your daily life.
Allergies happen when your body's immune system responds to a foreign substance like food, dander, bee venom, or pet dander that doesn't typically trigger an allergic reaction in most people. Your immune system produces a substance known as an antibody.
Symptoms of allergies can range from mild to severe and can include sneezing, itching, swelling, and even anaphylaxis.
Your immune system releases antibodies to identify the harmful allergen. Your skin, sinuses, airways, and digestive system may become inflamed due to your immune system's response to contact with the allergen. Depending on the individual, allergies can range in severity from a minor annoyance to anaphylaxis, a potentially fatal emergency. Treatments can help reduce allergy symptoms, even though most allergies cannot be cured.
Depending on the substance in question, your skin, digestive system, sinuses, and nasal passages can all be impacted by allergy symptoms. The severity of allergic reactions can vary. Anaphylaxis is a potentially fatal reaction that allergies can cause in some extreme cases.
Asthma, hay fever, and other allergy-related conditions affect about 50 million Americans. The medical professional's dismissal felt real for 40% of women with autoimmune disease diagnoses.
Although many allergies are mild, some severe ones can be life-threatening that need urgent treatment, or they might affect the immune system making your body vulnerable to other diseases.
Facts
According to the data from Asthma and Allergy Foundation America
- Over 50 million people in the U.S. experience various types of allergies yearly.
- Allergies are the sixth leading cause of chronic illness in the U.S.
- In 2018, approximately 24 million people in the U.S. were diagnosed with seasonal allergic rhinitis (hay fever). This equals around 8% (19.2 million) of adults and 7% (5.2 million) of children.1,7
- Seasonal allergic rhinitis is an allergic reaction to pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds. This type of rhinitis occurs mainly in the spring and fall when pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds are in the air.
Recent studies have shown that there is a link between allergies and immune issues. It has been found that people with allergies are more likely to develop autoimmune diseases. One theory is that the immune system's response to allergens triggers an autoimmune response in some people.
Research has also shown that environmental factors like pollution and stress can weaken the immune system and increase the risk of allergies and immune issues. A study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found that exposure to air pollution can increase the risk of autoimmune diseases.
What causes allergies and immune issues?
Allergies and immune issues are caused by a combination of factors, including genetics, environment, lifestyle, and diet. The most common triggers are pollen, mold, dust mites, pet dander, insect stings/bites/saliva (bee sting allergies), food allergies (cow's milk is the most common), or medication side effects.
The body's immune system protects us from harmful bacteria and viruses. You have an allergic reaction when something triggers your immune system to react by producing antibodies against it (such as pollen).
Common symptoms of allergies or immune diseases are:
- Conjunctivitis (frequent cold)
- Runny nose
- Nose itching
- Sneezing
- The tingling sensation in the mouth
- Swelling on face
- Anaphylaxis
- Skin rashes
- Dry eyes
- Mold exposure
- Wheezing
- Skin itching
- Reddening of skin
- Flaked skin
How Functional Medicine Helps to Overcome Allergies and Immune Issues
Treating the root cause of allergies and immune issues is important because it can help your body heal itself by addressing the underlying problem.
Sometimes that means treating an infection, healing tissue damage, or removing a foreign substance from your body. Treating the root cause of allergies and immune issues can also mean addressing a deficiency in your body's nutrients—like vitamin D or omega-3 fatty acids—through supplementation or dietary changes.
Allergies and immune issues can make you feel like your world is on fire. But it doesn't have to be that way! At Benehealth, we are here to help you find relief from allergies and other immune issues.
Functional medicine is a personalized approach to healthcare that focuses on identifying and treating the root cause of a patient's health issues. It takes into account the patient's genetics, environment, and lifestyle to create a personalized treatment plan.
In the case of allergies and immune issues, functional medicine can help by identifying the triggers that cause an immune response. This can be done through allergy testing and other diagnostic tests. Once the triggers are identified, a personalized treatment plan can be created, including dietary changes, supplements, and other therapies to help reduce inflammation and support the immune system.
Functional medicine identifies the triggers that cause an immune response.
Functional medicine also emphasizes the importance of a healthy lifestyle, including regular exercise, stress management, and getting enough sleep. These lifestyle changes can help to reduce inflammation and support the immune system. Book now to discover the personalized approach to healthcare that can transform your life and help you conquer allergies and immune issues with Functional Medicine.
