Memorandum by The British Institute for
Allergy & Environmental Therapy
1. PREAMBLE
The Institute is a professional association
of some 300 holistic allergy therapists.
Members are drawn from a broad spectrum of the
healing professions, both mainstream and complementary ie doctors,
pharmacists, nurses, mid-wives, homoeopaths, psychotherapists,
osteopaths and others.
The Institute was formed in 1987 in order to
bring together therapists who were using the holistic techniques
developed at the Ffynnonwen Natural Therapy Centre and Homoeopathic
Pharmacy in mid-Wales.
The information presented is based on the practical
experience of working with allergy sufferers using the techniques
developed and refined and taught over a period of nearly 30 years.
2. DEFINITION
The word allergy was originally coined in 1906
by von Pirquet, and was loosely defined as an abnormal reaction
of the body. In modern terms this could be taken to mean "An
abnormal response by the immune system—the body's protective
mechanisms—to the environment, where the body's environment
is defined as anything that can be touched, eaten, drunk, breathed
or injected. Clearly this fits the holistic model as it encompasses
all the activities of the immune system.
Over the years, the scientific model has come
to define allergy as a condition caused by an antigen/antibody
response—which may or not be life-threatening. This is activity
of the specific immune system, and as continuing exposure to the
allergens increases the antibody load, the condition becomes progressively
dangerous. Although different antibodies are involved, the physiology
closely mimics the physiology of immunity against disease which
has been closely studied since the days of Pasteur.
By comparison, food and chemical intolerance
and sensitivity have been accorded, in mainstream medicine, a
role of minor importance. The symptoms occur as a result of either
activity of the Non-specific immune system or a genetic lack of
essential digestive enzymes. These conditions are generally not
life-threatening, do not involve the antigen/antibody response
and are more difficult to diagnose as often a multiplicity of
apparently unconnected symptoms are presented. All too often this
has led in the past to diagnosis of hypochondria and unsuccessfully
treated as such.
Many factors may be involved in the high prevalence
of allergic disease in the UK:
— High levels of atmospheric pollution.
— An increasing dependence on pre-packaged
food as increasing costs or aspirations of families lead to more
working mothers with less time or ability for fresh food preparation.
— Use of plastics in food packaging
leading to the pollution of foods by PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls)—increasing
the toxic load on the body and in particular the liver.
— Increasing use of chemical preservatives
and unnecessary colourings in foods.
— Electromagnetic pollution of the
environment—Power lines, Computer equipment, Mobile phones
etc.
— Increasing use of "recreational"
drugs.
— Increasing side-effects and over-use
of prescription drugs.
— Overuse of oral antibiotics in the
past causing imbalances in the natural flora of the bowel, increased
levels of Candida albicans overgrowth and subsequent interference
with normal digestive processes.
— The sensitivity of many individuals
to the toxic and electrical effects of the over-use of dental
amalgam as a restorative for damaged teeth, in spite of pressure
from many dentists to use alternative materials. This material
is still in use although reported evidence of its dangers has
been widely reported in professional journals.
— Unnatural changes in hormone levels
caused by the contraceptive pill and HRT placing pressure upon
the immune system, as do increased levels of stress often in the
home, the workplace, finances, cost of living, school and other
areas. These all have a deleterious effect on the normal functioning
of the immune system.
— In the past, Food & Chemical
Intolerance and Sensitivity have been consistently misdiagnosed,
in many cases due to the refusal of the scientific and medical
establishments to accept the facts of its existence. As awareness
increases, correct diagnosis leads to a further apparent increase
in cases and additionally, one would hope, to increasing acceptance
of established methods of diagnosis and treatment.
When Type 1 allergies (where the antigen/antibody
response occurs) are identified, treatment is usually symptomatic
and readily treated by the GP, using antihistamine, mast cell
stabilising or steroid drugs. Food and chemical intolerances,
although readily treatable by alternative means, present a considerable
time and cost problem for mainstream medicine.
Even when treated as above, the symptoms of
Type 1 allergies are, in many cases, not totally relieved and
so result in lowered productivity and absenteeism in both workers
and children, as not only are allergic conditions exacerbated
by stress, the conditions themselves are stressful.
3. TREATMENT
AND MANAGEMENT
— Current treatments do nothing to
reduce the incidence of allergic conditions. Treatment is concerned
mainly with the relief of symptoms, rather than the prevention
of development of the conditions. Prevention should be the main
concern.
— The current program of vaccination
of infants and children is considered by many to be responsible
for the development of allergic conditions in some children and
research should identify ways of avoiding this.
— If one considers the above, then
one must also be very wary of the possible results of introducing
an allergy vaccination program, bearing in mind that this, by
its very nature would be directed at reducing only Type 1 allergies.
— Research should be directed towards
ways of reducing the allergenic potential of home, work and public
environmental conditions.
— Simple statistical evaluation of
Alternative and Complementary methods already in use would perhaps
be a starting point for the gradual introduction of these into
mainstream medicine.
— Already there are effective Complementary
methods for the identification and treatment of allergic conditions.
These involve comprehensive case history taking, problem assessment,
stress and lifestyle counselling, simple and inexpensive testing
methods and low cost isopathic treatment. They involve consideration
of the whole person, both psychological and physical. Incorporating
these methods into GP surgeries by the training of Practice Nurses,
would allow the effectiveness of these methods to be assessed
statistically and would also reduce GP workload considerably.
A pilot scheme would cost little initially and then would be self-financing
as expenditure on drugs would be considerably reduced.
There would then be opportunities for the continuing
development of already proven techniques.
4. GOVERNMENT
POLICIES
It is laudable that the Government has now begun
to take notice of the position of allergy sufferers in Britain.
It is regrettable that this attention has been so long in coming
and that in the past the Medical establishment has ignored those
of its members and also those complementary and alternative practitioners
who have evaluated the problem and have worked to find solutions
to it in the face of relentless opposition.
— Food policy and labelling regulations
are gradually responding to the demands of a general public that
is very knowledgeable in matters of food allergy, and it should
be recognised that the public have been educated in the main on
the subject by the complementary practitioners of this Country.
— Many people have, of necessity, been
able to change their living environment in order to minimise their
allergies and it is useful that regulations regarding building
materials seem likely to be considered. It is hoped that soft
furnishings—often a cause of inhalant allergies will also
be studied.
— In view of this, it is hoped that
Government will understand that had it moved earlier the allergy
problem would not have been as overwhelming as it now is.
— There needs, however to be caution
in order to avoid the spectre of over-regulation that could so
easily, and indeed so often in the past, has overridden common
sense.
5. PATIENT AND
CONSUMER ISSUES
— The allergic condition has, like
any chronic illness, a huge impact on the sufferer. Food intolerance
and irritable bowel syndrome often dominate the thoughts, regulate
the patients' activities to a great extent and call for never
ending vigilance. Hayfever is easily forgotten once the season
has passed. Eczema creates a constant invariable routine of treatment
and bathing. The list is endless. Nor should it be forgotten that
the parent also will suffer for the child.
— All information to be disseminated
should be prepared from both the Medical and the Alternative points
of view for it should not be forgotten that the many Complementary
therapists in the Country have long experience of the consequences
of the allergic condition. Perhaps the most underdiagnosed allergic
condition in Britain is Coeliac Disease and Government could quickly
correct this serious gap in its policy of preventative medicine
by a simple inexpensive testing of children below secondary school
age.
— The British Institute for Allergy
and Environmental Therapy is a self-regulating organisation. As
a member of the British Complementary Medicine Association, both
as a teaching establishment and an association, its Members are
obliged to accept the strictest standards of practice and Code
of Conduct. Admission to Membership is by its own Diploma Course
and it is believed that all Complementary therapists should be
Members of a well-regulated Professional Association for their
own therapy with access to a central body of information. It is
regretted that there are many unregulated centres offering forms
of allergy testing with no treatment or patient support. The sale
of OTC allergy self-tests is to be deprecated as self-treatment,
particularly in the field of food allergy can, without the advice
of a qualified practitioner lead to dangerous under-nourishment.
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