Allergy Treatment

ALLERGY

Some people are abnormally sensitive to substances in the air they breathe, in their food, or in something they touch. The same substances may be harmless to other family members and to other people in general. This sensitivity may be present from birth, but it is more often built up as a result of repeated contacts with the offending substances. The sensitivity is called allergy; and, if comparatively prompt and violent, the body's reaction is called anaphylaxis.

A variety of diseases may be caused by allergy. Hay fever and asthma, acute vomiting or purging-especially in children-eczema, hives, and several other skin affections are prominent examples.

Among the offending substances frequently affecting abnormally sensitive people are pollens; hair and dandruff; emanations from cats, dogs, or horses; fur or feathers; such food as milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, pork, fowl, wheat, oranges, strawberries, cereals, and butter.

HOW TO TREAT ALLERGY?

1. Try to find out the identity of the offending food or other substance and avoid it. This may call for the aid of a physician, and one of the methods he may use in his detective work is a series of skin tests.

2. When an attack occurs, possibly because of some food, discontinue all food for few hours. As eating is resumed, try one food at a time in the hope of discovering the food cause of the allergy.

3. Try to relieve the itching by applying 1 percent phenol in calamine lotion to the itching areas.

4. If the allergy attack is severe, consult a physician. He may give some injection that may be able to give prompt relief and to prescribe other remedies to fit the individual case.