Nothing to Sneeze At

by Dr. Steven Warfield

You know its allergy season when you walk outside only to find that your car has changed from blue to green overnight.  That yellow patina coating your paintjob is composed of millions of microgametes (plant sperm cells) that erupt from plants every spring.  While unsightly, this plant powder is easy enough to hose off your car.  If that was the worst that pollen could dish out then we would all breathe a sigh of relief.  However, therein lays the rub.  It is by breathing in this powder that causes many of us to sniffle and sneeze as allergy season kicks into overdrive.

Pollen Predates People

While some people have allergies to pollen, you have to take into consideration that pollen has been 

Pollen from a variety of common plants: sunflower (Helianthus annuus), morning glory Ipomoea purpurea, hollyhock (Sildalcea malviflora), lily (Lilium auratum), primrose (Oenothera fruticosa) and castor bean (Ricinus communis). The image is magnified some x500, so the bean shaped grain in the bottom left corner is about 50 μm long. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

around a lot longer than human beings.  In fact, not only have pine trees been around for hundreds of millions of years (did dinosaurs have allergies?), but the oldest living examples of trees are bristlecone pines some of which are estimated to be more than 4,600 years old.   While certain kinds of pollen cause people problems every year, this is not what pollen was intended to do.  It all has to do with reproduction.

So why are some people allergic to pollen while others are not? 

“The real question, according to Susan Waserman, professor of medicine in the division of clinical immunology and allergy at McMaster University in Canada, is not "Why pollen?" but "Why allergies at all?" Humans typically become allergic to things we're frequently exposed to as children. Pollen is one of those things; in the spring, a cubic meter of air can contain thousands of pollen grains, so we're inhaling them fairly constantly. But we're also routinely exposed to food and pet hair as kids, and we commonly develop allergies to those, too.” http://news.yahoo.com/why-pollen-allergies-common-195446150.html

The main reason that allergic reactions take place is due to the way our immune systems react to foreign substances.  Or, should I say overreact?  Designed to defend us from disease, the body’s immune response isn’t exactly hardwired into our system.  It actually learns what is and is not a threat.  This learning process occurs for the most part when we are children when we are all exposed to a myriad of bacteria and viruses. 

Every time the immune system detects the presence of an invading organism, it produces antibodies that transport the attacker to white blood cells which trigger the release of histamine.  This works fine when the offending organism is a bacteria or virus.  However, if the invader is pollen, the immune system can get carried away.  This is what causes allergies; the body misinterpreting a harmless organism as an invader.  Once your system designates pollen, dust or cat dander as a marauder, there’s no going back.  You’re saddled with the allergy for the rest of your life.

Some people even later in life can acquire sometimes life threatening allergic reactions to such things as certain kinds of food that can cause them to go into anaphylactic shock, which can block their airways resulting in suffocation. 

According to Susan Wasserman, the real reason that so many people have allergies these days has to do with inadequate exposure to bacteria and viruses during early childhood. “Thanks to modern hygiene including such things as antibacterial soap, pasteurized milk and more, kids aren’t exposed to nearly as many microbes as they once were.  As a result, their immune systems have fewer opportunities to learn how to discriminate between dangerous pathogens and harmless things like pollen. People whose immune systems are no longer busy fighting infection can become unregulated and allergic.”

This year in particular has proven to deliver a particularly heavy dose of pollen. Currently it is pine and oak pollen that is causing the most problems for allergy sufferers.  Later in the 

season will come ragweed pollen.  Other than popping antihistamines and carrying a hefty supply of Kleenex, what else can allergy sufferers do to cope?

Why Chiropractic Care is Nothing to Sneeze At

While traditional medicine simply treats the symptoms, chiropractic care is designed specifically to enable the immune system to work more efficiently.  One of the reasons that the body can have an allergic reaction is due to the fact that nerve interference can cause the immune system to overproduce histamine.  Since the nervous system controls immune response along with virtually every other reaction in the body, any imbalance can result in miscommunication between the brain and the body. 

While chiropractic treatment does not treat allergies directly, studies have shown that the nervous system has a direct link to the functionality of the immune system.  Chiropractors work to align the spine which in turn relieves stress on the nerves.  This in turn allows the immune system to work more efficiently which makes it easier to fight off infection while recognizing and not overreacting to allergens.

Antihistamines work by drying out the mucus membranes.  Chiropractic care works by allowing your body to better identify and deal with allergens.  Besides, long term antihistamine use can itself prove dangerous.  In a May 1994 Journal of the National Cancer Institute, it was noted that several antihistamines including Claritin, Hismanal and Atarax had been proven to cause cancerous tumors in rats to grow faster.  And unlike antihistamines whose side effects can include dry mouth, drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, blurred vision and confusion, chiropractic care have none of the side effects.

So if allergy symptoms have you sniffing and sneezing, instead of reaching for that bottle of pills talk to your local chiropractor.  Your sinuses will thank you.

Dr. Steven Warfield and Dr. Dave Edenfield  are part of the team of doctors and therapists at http://chiropractic-jacksonville-fl.com and http://chiropractor-orange-park-fl.com who are dedicated to helping you and your family lead  healthier, happier and pain-free lives.