Introduction

Allergies are one of the most commonly seen conditions in the community, and they can indiscriminately affect infants, toddlers, teenagers and adults. Sometimes allergies resolve themselves during growth and development. However, they frequently carry through into adult life. Common illnesses that strike allergy sufferers include hay fever and asthma.

What is "allergy"?

An allergy is an abnormal over-reaction triggered by our immune system to certain "non-life threatening" substances such as pollen, dust, foods or medication.

Common symptoms of allergies include sneezing, a running nose and itchiness. In extreme cases, the sufferer may experience swelling and/or breathing difficulties.

Causes of Allergies

There can be millions of causes for allergies. These can be classified into two major categories:
External factors
Pollen
Dust
Various types of food
Medication
Internal Factors
Genetic predisposition
Physical exhaustion
Stress
Poor immune status

What happen during an allergic attack?

Normally, our immune system can differentiate between a real threat such as bacteria or a virus, and a false threat, such as foods, pollen or even temperature change. A normal immune system reacts to a genuine threat by inducing defensive responses such as fever, vomiting, sneezing, secretions from the mucous membranes (runny nose), etc. Our immune system can tolerate false threat such as pollen, dust mite, temperature change or foods.

In an allergic reaction, the body's immune system reacts strongly to a harmless, or non-threatening substance. In allergic individuals, the immune system identifies a non-threatening agent (eg: pollen, dust, food, etc) as 'threatening', and responds accordingly by inducing a set of symptoms described above.

Conventional Treatment for Allergies

The most common (western) medications for allergy sufferers are "anti-histamines". 

Histamines are chemicals released by your body during an allergic reaction. Hence "Anti-histamine" drugs restrict the release of histamine into the blood and consequently alleviate the allergic symptoms. However, anti-histamine treatment only provides temporary relief, it does not prevent future allergic attacks, and it cannot treat the causes of an allergy. Additionally, anti-histamines are known to cause drowsiness.

Allergy: An Integrative Chinese medicine perspective

From an integrative Chinese Medicine perspective, allergies developed later in life, is often perceived as the result of an incompetent and weakened immune system, other accompany symptoms include poor blood circulation, digestive problems, fatigue as well as sensitive to cold temperature or climate. In the parlance of Chinese medicine, the allergy is assessed by its overall signs and symptoms. And it is regarded as a "Qi deficiency".

In clinical practise, allergies often occur with other health conditions including stress, fatigue, digestive problems as well as skin problem such as eczema.

Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine for Allergies

Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine treat allergies by regulating and strengthening the immune system, boosting immune responses, down-regulating the over-reactive tendencies, improving local blood circulation and improving digestion.
Acupuncture, in conjunction with herbal treatment, can stabilise the immune system and eliminate the over-reactive tendencies. Allergies can be effectively managed when acupuncture and herbal treatments are combined with appropriate dietary and lifestyle changes.

Allergies & Diet

Chinese Medicine recommends:
a high protein, high complex carbohydrate and low fat diet
the intake of seafood (such as fish and oysters) into the diet.
the avoidance of deep fried, greasy and/or over-processed foods.
increasing the intake of a wide range of fresh fruit and vegetables.
increasing the intake of complex carbohydrates such as brown rice, potatoes, etc.
the avoidance of caffeine and excessively sugary foods.

General Health Advice

Encourage regular, moderate and non-strenuous exercises. 
Encourage regular outdoor activities
Encourage a regular lifestyle

References

Longman concise medical dictionary, 1994

Chinese-English Manual of Common-Used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ou Ming, 1995