health & fitness
invisible epidemic
Watery eyes, a runny nose and sneezing keep sufferers miserable all year long. BY SARA BEHUNEK
Paula Curtis, Lawrence resident, is the herb buyer for the Community Mercantile. When faced with an illness, "I don't go to the doctor to get my medicine. I get all of it here," Curtis said.
Zach Strauss/Kansan
You may be suffering from what Newsweek recently deemed an "epidemic." Lindsay Siegel is; she has seasonal allergies. You might have noticed her sneezing and blowing her nose throughout class, excusing herself as she leaves the room, red-faced and watery-eyed.
"It makes me miserable," Siegel, Highland, Ill. senior, says.
During the allergy season, otherwise known as fall, students like Siegel are everywhere. Patricia Denning, a doctor at Watkins Health Center, says that approximately one-fourth to one-third of patients she sees are seeking relief from allergies.
Ragweed season begins around August 15 and lasts through November, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Grass pollen is also prevalent during the fall, Denning says, and dust and mold remain ever-present. Sneezing, runny eyes and nose and a sore throat, are all the immune system's exaggerated responses to a foreign protein, says Denning. Those proteins, or histamines, cause a complicated series of chemical reactions; the end result being "kachooing" all over your neighbor's desk.
If this social blunder does occur, apologize and blame it on your parents. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, if one of your parents suffers from allergies, one in three of their children will too. If both parents are allergic, the odds rise to 70 percent.
Genes are only a portion of the problem. Some experts think it's our squeaky clean lifestyle that makes us intolerant to those foreign proteins.
As we moved from the farm to urban, antiseptic-swept homes, our immune systems felt no need to be in constant overdrive, so it downshifted. Eventually, the bacteria and pollen-saturated outdoors became the enemy.
As a result, medications — homeopathic, herbal, and conventional have taken up a portion of the pharmaceutical aisle at grocery stores.
Community Mercantile Co-op, 901 Iowa St., carries homeopathic remedies. Hal Sears, wellness manager, explains that homeopathic medicine is labeled by your symptoms. For example, the bottle might say, "mold, yeast, dust."
"That way, you can never misdiagnose," Sears says.
Herbal treatments, which carry no synthetic or artificial flavors, may also help. Jordan Stewart, Topeka senior and Merc employee, suggests quercetin with bromelain (pronounced KEER-set-en and bromel-EEN). Quercetin, found in tree bark and red wine, reduces inflammation, and bromelain, enhances quercetin absorption.
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jayplay
thursday, september 25, 2003