Hay Fever

This is another common allergy, affecting ten to twenty percent of the population. It is hardly ever seen in children under the age of five, but usually appears after puberty. The incidence of hay fever diminishes rapidly in those aged over 35.

The symptoms of this seasonal allergy come on during the flowering season, and are characterized by itching in the roof of the mouth and in the nose, sneezing fits, copious, but clear nasal discharge, and red, watery, irritated eyes that sting or itch. Hay-fever sufferers wait impatiently both for rain, which temporarily damps down the pollen, and for the end of the flowering season, which will cure them... at least until next year.

Managing allergies

When faced with any allergy problem, you need to:

• Identify the culprit by means of skin tests performed by applying various common allergens to the skin and noting any possible reactions
• Eliminate the allergen from your surroundings through avoidance measures
• Treat the allergy with a desensitizing programme set up by your allergy specialist, or preferably with homeopathic remedies to strengthen your individual 'terrain'

Avoidance measures

It is essential, although certainly not always easy, to take these measures, as it is difficult to get a child (or even an adult) to agree to stay shut up at home for the several weeks of the flowering season.

It may help if you discourage the sufferer from going out on long walks in the woods during the height of the allergy season, especially in fine, windy weather, unless he or she has taken some sort of allergy remedy, possibly antihistamines. Thanks to pollen samples taken every day by specialized monitoring bodies. we now know that the atmospheric pollen count varies tremendously from one day to the next, and depends largely on weather conditions. A dry, windy day will thus cause more problems to allergy sufferers than rain or windless weather.

Be aware of allergy confusion - just as with trains, there may be another allergy coming along behind the most obvious one. We now know that some patients who are allergic to inhaled pollens are also sensitive to other, apparently quite different, substances. Thus, there are combined allergies to birch pollen and apples (and to fruits with stones), to latex and bananas, to mugwort and celery, to ragweed and melons. And this list of combinations continues to grow.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture should really be recommended in these cases, for allergies constitute one of this therapy's most successful areas, after pain and nervous disorders. Acupuncture can both prevent and cure, so it can bring rapid relief during acute periods.

Treatment Schedule: One session every fortnight from January to April, then two sessions per week for two or three weeks at the beginning of the pollen season, when you notice, for example, that the roof of your mouth feels itchy and your eyes begin to sting.

Oligotherapy

Manganese and cobalt

Trace elements are usually found in a varied and high quality diet. In cases of deficiency, which should not be the case with these two minerals, they can be given as medicinal supplements.

Dietary sources of manganese

This is primarily to be found in plants, especially whole-grain cereals, choco­late, nuts (such as almonds, walnuts, and hazelnuts), wheatgerm, some herbs and spices (cloves, ginger, and thyme), vegetables (beetroot, chestnuts, beans, peas, and soya beans), and tea.

Dietary sources of cobalt

This mineral comes essentially from animal products: meat, milk, and shellfish (crayfish), plant and vegetable matter contains very little cobalt in general, with the exception of mushrooms, white cabbage, onions, and radishes.

• Manganese-cobalt treatment: this combination is available in various brands and forms, such as Organic Minerals (Colloidals) which contains 70+ trace minerals:
  - Available in 946ml bottles
  - Take 1-3 caps just before breakfast and/or evening meal
  - Children 1 teaspoon daily for each 20lbs of body weight

Or Maximol (Ionized colloidals):

- Available in 500ml bottles
- Take 1/2 capful once or twice daily on an empty stomach
- One dose of manganese-cobalt treatment to be taken three times a week as an ongoing treatment from Easter onwards. Increase the frequency to two doses per day during the pollen season

Homeopathy

Allium cepa

- Four 5c tablets to be sucked slowly two or three times per day for several days.

Allium cepa

- Vegetable origin: the common or garden onion
- The homeopathic remedy for irritant nasal discharge
- The patient's symptoms will resemble those brought on when a healthy person peels an onion: sneezing, running nose, and weeping eyes

• You could also try Nelsons Pollena, which includes Allium cepa 6c, Sabadilla 6c and Euphrasia 6e:
  - Available in boxes of 72 tablets
  - Two tablets to be sucked every 2 hours for the first 6 doses, then 2 tablets 3 times daily between meals
• Another alternative is OC Nasal Spray (Thorne) which contains Euphorbium 6x and Quercetin 2x:
  - Available in 1 fluid ounce metered bottles
  - 1 t0 2 metered sprays in each nostril as needed

Pollen and Lung histamine

- Four 5c tablets of one or both of these remedies to be sucked slowly, two or three times per day for several days. (Contact your homeopath)

Pollen

- Vegetable origin: a blend of tree and flower pollens
- The specific homeopathic remedy for hay fever

Lung histamine

- Animal origin: the lung of a guinea pig sacrificed while undergoing anaphylactic shock
- The specific homeopathic remedy for allergies

When the allergen has been clearly identified, it can be harvested, and the homeopath can then prepare an isotherapeutic remedy.

-Self-isotherapeutic remedies were prepared from secretions supplied by the patient, taken from the nose or throat, or from a urine sample. Current legislation no longer permits their preparation in France. However, in Britain, there is no such regulation and homeopaths often prescribe on this basis

- Hetero-isotherapeutic remedies, on the other hand, are still made up and distributed to patients. The remedy is derived from house dust, mould, or pollen

Sabadilla if the roof of the mouth is itchy

- Four 5c tablets to be sucked slowly two or three times per day for several days

Sabadilla

- Vegetable origin: the seeds of the cevadilla plant
- The specific homeopathic remedy for an itching palate, which the patient feels the need to scrape at with the tongue

Euphrasia for irritated eyes

- Four 5c tablets to be sucked slowly two or three times per day for several days

Euphrasia

- Vegetable origin: the eyebright plant
- The specific homeopathic remedy for conjunctivitis accompanied by irritant discharge

• It is essential that you combine this treatment with a constitutional remedy, to be chosen after consultation with a professional homeopath. Some likely choices are Arsenicum album or Sulfur, which the homeopath may say should be taken two or three times per week throughout winter and spring.

Herbal remedies

Plantain

Possible Prescription: Ask your herbalist to prepare a 60ml bottle of mother tincture of plantain. Take 25 drops in a little water three times a day for the duration of the pollen season.

Plantain is a contradictory herb. Its pollen is one of the known triggers of hay fever, yet the plant (Plantago major, or greater plantain) supplies one of the best anti-allergy remedies. Plantain was used in the past in order to stop bleeding, promote healing, and calm upset stomachs.