Latest Health News » Allergies

PLANTS CAUSING ALLERGIES: MOLDS

admin — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 08:12:30 +0000

Molds are very small plants which nature uses as scavengers of the soil to convert dead leaves into fertilizer. They have no roots, stems, leaves, or chlorophyll, and they live as parasites because they nourish themselves from dead leaves, old shoes, walls of damp basements, old paper – almost anything except metal.

The mold plant is composed of threads that intertwine into a loose network on which grow the fruits of the plant, or its spores. When a spore lands on good soil, it sends some threads into the ground to form roots, while other threads grow upward and form a sort of a tree.

Molds live best at a temperature of 70° to 90 °F; they stop growing at 40°F. They are killed by high temperatures, but survive freezing for months.

Mold spores leave their mother-dwelling during the summer months and are scattered by winds and storms for miles around their locality. Each locality has its own brand of molds. It takes a special mold survey to determine the type of molds found in a particular place. This is done by exposing a plate, which contains mold food, to the open air for a number of minutes each day.

Here are the results of a survey made by Center Laboratories for the Port Washington area on Long Island, New York, regarding four common molds:

Alternaria. Out of 100 mold colonies grown in a culture plate, 80 contained alternaria (i.e., 80 percent). This is a mold which looks dirty gray and is found in decaying vegetation.

Horrnodendrum. Seventy-six percent. This mold on culture looks similar to alternaria. It is likewise found in decaying vegetation, as well as on dead tobacco leaves, tomatoes, or peaches.

Penicillium. Sixty-seven percent. This mold looks blue on culture. It is the common bread mold, as well as the factor in the ripening of the Camembert and Roquefort cheeses.

Aspergillus. Twenty-four percent. This is a black mold found on the walls of old, damp, and musty houses.

Mold allergy is a disorder which is similar in character to pollen allergy because molds do not have to attach themselves to an organ of the body to cause disease (fungi in feet cause disease, but not allergies); they simply have to be present in the air to do so.

Today there is a world increase in the number of people who are suffering from mold allergy. This is caused by two factors:

a. The discovery of oil in the Middle East, which has caused a change in the kind of dwelling used in these countries (from open-air, tent-dwellings to air-conditioned skyscrapers which have cool and comfortable rooms, but which are not mold-free).

b. The forceful displacement through war of millions of people who have been made to move from a dry desert area to a damp area near seashore where wind currents, climate, and vegetation are ideal for the growth of molds (Israel, Greece, India, etc.).

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THE MENTAL SYMPTOMS OF FOOD AND ALLERGY INTOLERANCE: ADRENALS’ ACTIVITY

admin — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:52:45 +0000

The sympathetic nerves achieve their effects by releasing the hormone noradrenalin from the nerve-tips, which are located close to the organs that they influence. A very similar hormone, adrenaline, can also be generated by a pair of glands known as the adrenals that sit above the kidneys. The sympathetic nerves control the adrenals’ activity, so they are really part of the same system. The inner part of the gland, the adrenal medulla, produces adrenaline, while the outer part of the gland, known as the adrenal cortex, is responsible for producing corticosteroids (’steroids derived from the cortex’). As the bloodstream carries these hormones around the body, the adrenaline produces the ‘flight or fight’ reaction already described, while the corticosteroids have a great variety of effects. They too are capable of mobilizing glucose, but they also suppress inflammation and inhibit some immune functions. Their main function in emergencies is to release glucose and thus perpetuate the ‘flight or fight’ reaction initiated by adrenaline and noradrenalin – they have a longer-lasting effect on the body.

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CONTRACEPTIVE CARE OF THE OLDER PATIENT – CHANGING RELATIONSHIPS; THE END OF CONTRACEPTION

admin — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 10:21:24 +0000

The relevance of tensions within a family to a particular sexual difficulty cannot be guessed by the doctor and may not have been appreciated by the patient until she or he can talk freely about whatever comes to mind. Then the listening doctor may be able to make the connection with the patient and they can continue to work together to resolve the problem.

Some people are only too delighted to be able to put the fear of pregnancy behind them and embark on a sexual life free from the nuisance of contraception. For others, as has been suggested, the ambivalence about making the change to the next phase of life can cause problems. At the present time there is often a gap between the onset of menopausal symptoms and the moment when natural infertility can be assured. It is to be hoped that it will not be long before there are hormonal preparations that will allow this gap to be filled more smoothly.

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