Allergies and Honey (04/01)

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#006633" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="065d6c00ddvuru.jpg"> <div> <B> </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" "><U><B>HOME</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Past Newsletters"><U><B>Past Newsletters</B></U></A><B>   </B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="09da7a00.png" border=0 width="167" height="160" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>The small is powerful.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Being Overwhelmed (10/00)"><U><B>Next</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="507" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 33 ><NOBR><div> <B>HOMEOPATHY:  The Small Is Powerful</B></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <B> </B><B>     </B></div> <div> <B>   </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Papyrus" ><B><U>Allergies and Honey</U></B></FONT></div> <div> <B>(Reprint of 04/2001 Newsletter)</B></div> <div>                                        </div> <div> <B>Dear friends,</B></div> <div> <B>        Spring is here.  I am already getting calls from people suffering with seasonal allergies, and yesterday I realized that my poor little dog was under the weather with runny eyes and nose.  In this month's newsletter, I want to talk about seasonal allergies and also about the use of honey as an allergy treatment.</B></div> <div> <B>        Unfortunately for allergy sufferers, pollens are totally necessary for the continuation of life as we know it.  They're the egg-shaped male cells of flowering plants, and the small, dry, light varieties are carried everywhere by wind currents and sometimes by animals for three full seasons.  In the early spring, pollens from oak, alder, beech, elm, cottonwood, walnut, poplar, willow, maple, mountain cedar, and eucalyptus trees fill the air.  In late spring and early summer, grasses such as bermuda, johnson, fescue, rye, timothy, and cultivated oats and wheats do the damage.  Weeds, such as the dread ragweed (responsible for most "hay fever"), dandelion, firebush, goldenrod, Queen Anne's Lace, ox-eye daisies, sagebrush, and nettle make their contributions in the late summer and early fall.  Depending on where you live, allergy season can range from January (in the southern states) or February through October. </B></div> <div> <B>        As for mold, there are both outdoor molds, found in soil, vegetation, and rotting wood, and indoor molds, residing in basements, attics, in and under refrigerators, in couches, carpeting, and curtains.  Types of molds include aspergillus, cladosporium, and alternaria. The pollen and mold counts discussed on the nightly news are measures of the grains of allergens present in a cubic meter of air.  These findings are reported to the media by the National Allergy Bureau three times a week and can also be obtained by calling 1-800-9-POLLEN.  They can vary wildly from day to day, and, since sensitivity to allergens can differ tremendously between individuals, these counts are not that helpful. CNN also posts maps on the Internet.  </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Papyrus" ><A HREF="http://www.cnn.com/virtual/editions/europe/2000/roof/change.pop/frameset.exclude.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.cnn.com/virtual/editions/euro"><U><B>Pollen Maps Here</B></U></A></FONT><B> </B></div> <div> <B>        The trials of allergies - the sneezing, runny nose, the red, itchy, watery eyes, etc. - are caused by your body's attempts to fend off invasion by manufacturing antibodies.  These antibodies cling to the surface of mast cells, and, at the next incursion of pollens and molds, release a deluge of histamines.  It's the histamines that cause the wretched symptoms, and, with each additional exposure to the allergens, the symptoms become more intense until you're just a miserable wheezing mucus machine. </B></div> <div> <B>        You can run, but you can't hide from pollen and mold.  The same grasses that produce pollens in Vermont grow beautifully in Arkansas and Colorado.  Even if you move, within a couple of years, you can easily acquire allergies to whatever flora flourish in the new locale.  Of course, you take the molds with you wherever you go.  So what to do? </B></div> <div> <B>         During pollen peak seasons, make your nose unavailable.  Stay inside as much as possible, keep windows and doors closed, and use a high performance filter in both your home and car's air-conditioning systems.  Wiping down your pets with baby wipes daily can trap lots of the pollen and keep it out of your living area.</B></div> <div> <B>         Hire someone to mow the lawn and rake the leaves, and don't hang your wash outside.  Use washable rugs instead of carpet (wood and vinyl floors are the least likely to harbor pollen and mold).  Try to survive without over-stuffed furniture, and flowing drapes should give way to roll-up blinds or simple, washable curtains. </B></div> <div> <B>        I want to remind everyone that this is the time to consider a constitutional follow-up to deal with allergies before you are in misery.  Once allergies are full blown, I can give you something that will relieve your symptoms to some extent, but true constitutional homeopathic care for allergies should start well before symptoms become uncomfortable for you.  Remember that treating seasonal allergies homeopathically can also prevent many allergy related problems such as asthma, sinusitis, ear infections, pink eye, headaches, eczema, and hives.</B></div> <div> <B>        Another option to help you avoid the discomfort of allergies is the medicinal use of local raw honey. It has been recognized by many that a tablespoon of local honey each day relieves the symptoms of pollen related allergies.  The concept behind using honey to prevent seasonal allergies is that you can build tolerance to pollen.  It is a homeopathic approach in that you are using extremely small amounts of something that would cause symptoms (the pollen in honey) to cure symptoms caused by larger amounts of the same substance (pollen).  It is critical that you use local honey which contains the local pollen that you may be reacting to.  It is also critical to use raw honey which has not been altered by cooking.  Be sure to store your honey in a dark, cool place because both heat and light can strip honey of its properties.</B></div> <div> <B>        Historians tell of ancient Egyptians using honey for diverse medicinal purposes.  The Ancient Chinese used honey to prevent smallpox wounds from scarring.  Native Americans used raw honey on wounds.  Honey was a common home remedy up until antibiotic creams were developed during World War II.  Now, because of the increase of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, old-time folk remedies are being looked into with greater interest.  I would encourage you to try this inexpensive, natural, time-honored medicinal food to help deal with seasonal allergies.  Buy good quality local, organic honey from your health food store, local farm market, or beekeeper.  Store it properly and be disciplined about taking a tablespoon daily.  A daily teaspoon of raw local honey year round may also give your pet allergy relief.  I would love to hear from you in regard to how well adding honey to your diet seems to have alleviated your allergies. </B></div> <div> <B>        Caution: Honey should never be given to children under one year old</B><B>.  (There is a small risk of infant botulism if babies are fed honey.  The intestine of an infant under a year of age is sometimes not mature enough to digest botulism spores which are harmless to adults but produce a toxin which can make a baby sick.) </B></div> <div> <B>        When I was keeping bees at my last house, I learned that one pound of honey requires 40,000 miles of bee travel and visits to over two million flowers.  Approximately one half of the human diet is derived from crops pollinated by bees.  Bees are an essential part of healthy agriculture.  Each jar of honey can represent over 100 different varieties of flowers and pollen sources.  Apitherapy or the use of bees and honey medicinally has been known throughout history. Organic honey has been used for centuries on wounds, burns, and scrapes Honey can soothe sore throats, calm nerves, induce sleep, and alleviate asthma.  Over the past years, there have been many exaggerated claims of the healing properties of honey, but I think it is a valid source of healing that we may be overlooking.</B></div> <div> <B>        Apis mellifica is the homeopathic remedy made from the honeybee.  The sting of the bee can cause swelling and redness.  The homeopathic remedy made from the bee is used to deal with those very symptoms.  For people mildly allergic to bee stings, Apis can be carried and used if they are stung although any severe bee sting allergies need to be treated quickly with regular medicine since anaphylactic reactions can occur and are occasionally fatal.</B></div> <div> <B>        Hot air ballooning season is here, so please be sure not to wait until the last minute to book appointments.  As always, emergency calls will be answered 24 hours a day, but if you are having trouble reaching me, please be sure to get appropriate medical care in a timely fashion.</B></div> <div> <B> </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>                                       </B></div> <div> <B>Good health,</B></div> <div> <B>Lydia</B></div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:lbel@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:lbel@aol.com"><U><B>LBel@aol.com</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>                                  </B></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>