Allergy

I think you must all know by now that inflammation is the number #1 ager. The more inflammation is running, the faster you age. It’s that simple.  You can find out your inflammatory status, if your doctor will cooperate, by being tested for CRP (C-reactive protein), TNF-alpha, IL-6 and possibly an ESR (a bit old-fashioned […] The post Dr. Keith’s 7 Inflammations appeared first on Dr. Keith Scott-Mumby.

Stephen Sinatra MD, an acclaimed cardiologist and dear friend, passed away rather suddenly on June 19th 2022. Less well known is that Stephen was also a psychiatrist and psychotherapist extraordinaire; he was well versed in the fact that sick people have “issues” and they need to be dealt with, before full and optimal health can […] The post A Very Dear Person Has Left This Earth appeared first on Dr. Keith Scott-Mumby.

For 40 years I’ve been pointing out that food allergies are almost universal. Everyone has at least one reaction to food! I wrote this in my 1986 book, Allergies: What Everyone Should Know (Unwin, London). I was feted by the BBC for numerous interviews about this ground-breaking book. But one interviewer—Nancy Wise of the BBC […] The post I Told ‘Em Food Allergies Are Very Common appeared first on Dr. Keith Scott-Mumby.

Honey bee venom is the “buzz” and it seems to help. Here’s a surprise scientific report. At the 18th International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders, in Stockholm, Sweden (June 8-12, 2014), a very interesting paper was presented showing that a combination of acupuncture and bee venom improved symptoms of patients with Parkinson’s Disease. […]

Honey bee venom is the “buzz” and it seems to help. Here’s a surprise scientific report. At the 18th International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders, in Stockholm, Sweden (June 8-12, 2014), a very interesting paper was presented showing that a combination of acupuncture and bee venom improved symptoms of patients with Parkinson’s Disease. […] The post Can Bee Sting Venom Cure Parkinson’s Disease? appeared first on Dr. Keith Scott-Mumby.

Finally, we come to the newest and, if such a thing is possible, most outrageous and contentious theory of allergy and intolerance. That is not to say that it is unscientific, far from it; this model carries the merit of the very latest scientific understanding. That’s the problem: it is so far advanced that doctors still working in the stone age and unable to grasp the majority of mechanisms described in my past articles will have trouble coming to terms with this one. We now believe that at least some activity we call allergy or intolerance comes, not from the physical substance, but its characteristic coded molecular “signature”. To explain this, let me start by introducing a simple observation – startling, maybe – but quite simple. I have observed it many times, so have other alert open-minded physicians: occasionally a patient may become sick, simply being near or in the presence of their key allergen. This means they did not swallow it, breathe it or touch it in any way whatsoever. It does not mean the patient is neurotic and “afraid of their allergen” or reacting through a Pavlovian conditioned response; it happens even if the patient is unaware of being in the presence of their allergen.

Finally, we come to the newest and, if such a thing is possible, most outrageous and contentious theory of allergy and intolerance. That is not to say that it is unscientific, far from it; this model carries the merit of the very latest scientific understanding. That’s the problem: it is so far advanced that doctors still working in the stone age and unable to grasp the majority of mechanisms described in my past articles will have trouble coming to terms with this one. We now believe that at least some activity we call allergy or intolerance comes, not from the physical substance, but its characteristic coded molecular “signature”. To explain this, let me start by introducing a simple observation – startling, maybe – but quite simple. I have observed it many times, so have other alert open-minded physicians: occasionally a patient may become sick, simply being near or in the presence of their key allergen. This means they did not swallow it, breathe it or touch it in any way whatsoever. It does not mean the patient is neurotic and “afraid of their allergen” or reacting through a Pavlovian conditioned response; it happens even if the patient is unaware of being in the presence of their allergen.

No reference to allergy and environmental medicine could be complete without some reference to Hans Selye’s hypothesis of stress adaptation. It is something that environmental medicine doctors have taken very much to heart, because it seems to fit our daily observations and explains a great many of the phenomena we encounter. The fact that so much to heart, because it seems to fit our daily observations and explains a great many of the phenomena we encounter. The fact that so much experience matches the theory suggests that it is ‘true’. Hans Selye, a Viennese by birth who moved to Canada and practiced medicine in his adopted country, began with the observation that many people ill from different causes had similar symptoms. These were general symptoms, which seemed common to all afflictions, such as pallor, fatigue, loss of appetite, vague pains and a coated tongue. Selye, still a medical student, likened this to the ‘syndrome of being ill’ and he couldn’t’ understand why his teachers didn’t pay more attention to these symptoms: they were obviously important, since everybody got them, no matter the illness.

No reference to allergy and environmental medicine could be complete without some reference to Hans Selye’s hypothesis of stress adaptation. It is something that environmental medicine doctors have taken very much to heart, because it seems to fit our daily observations and explains a great many of the phenomena we encounter. The fact that so much to heart, because it seems to fit our daily observations and explains a great many of the phenomena we encounter. The fact that so much experience matches the theory suggests that it is ‘true’. Hans Selye, a Viennese by birth who moved to Canada and practiced medicine in his adopted country, began with the observation that many people ill from different causes had similar symptoms. These were general symptoms, which seemed common to all afflictions, such as pallor, fatigue, loss of appetite, vague pains and a coated tongue. Selye, still a medical student, likened this to the ‘syndrome of being ill’ and he couldn’t’ understand why his teachers didn’t pay more attention to these symptoms: they were obviously important, since everybody got them, no matter the illness.

Now we come to yet another model of health and disease, concerning the way food residues are dealt with by the gut. It is important to realize that the contents of the bowel are outside the body. If you imagine a piece of string entering at the mouth and emerging from the anus, you will readily see this is true. The defined space of the bowel (or lumen) contains a considerable immunological and toxic burden, including potentially allergenic food residues, waste toxins, food toxins (both natural toxins and artificially added man-made chemicals), bacteria, parasites and free radicals released by many processes taking place. Precisely because of our very intimate entanglement with this space, our bodies need to be protected from these deleterious substances.

Now we come to yet another model of health and disease, concerning the way food residues are dealt with by the gut. It is important to realize that the contents of the bowel are outside the body. If you imagine a piece of string entering at the mouth and emerging from the anus, you will readily see this is true. The defined space of the bowel (or lumen) contains a considerable immunological and toxic burden, including potentially allergenic food residues, waste toxins, food toxins (both natural toxins and artificially added man-made chemicals), bacteria, parasites and free radicals released by many processes taking place. Precisely because of our very intimate entanglement with this space, our bodies need to be protected from these deleterious substances.

Hypersensitivity (a heightened state of extreme sensitivity) is another word you will hear applied to allergy. There are four distinct types of hypersensitivity: Types I to IV. These divisions are useful for discussion but may not necessarily occur as single entities in an individual. There is good evidence that Types I and III hypersensitivity can cause food-allergic symptoms, and some evidence that Type III mechanisms can be associated with gut disorders such as colitis. However, it is vital for doctors to appreciate that reactions to food and environmental substances may occur, proven empirically, without any of these mechanisms appearing to be invoked.