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SEASONAL & YEARROUND ALLERGIES
Do you seem to get a cold the same time every year? Do you have a dry cough, nose or eyes that itch, mucous in your throat or do you sneeze? If any of these are true you may have seasonal (or year-round) allergies.

From August til November between 500-1,000 different plants we losely class as "ragweeds". will be loosing their pollens to the winds. Different ones every few days in fact. We've all seen in cartoons where one character blows pepper in the face of another who then sneezes. Like that second cartoon person who sneezes we probably would too. One doesn't need to be allergic to respond to an irritating stimulus and in fact it might be abnormal not to respond. Therefore you might say that allergies are a matter of degree of sensitivity to an irritant that's around in high quantity at this time of year.

So what happens if we don't try to control this reaction?Those who have only small sensitivity will suffer only mild annoyance. People with a bit more sensitivity, those who's mucous membranes (the nose, throat and even lung linings of some people) are inflamed by the irritation are easily victimized by germs that we usually coexist peacefully with.

Most people have heard that millions of germs live in our mouths, noses and throatsevery day. So why don't all 5 billion people on earth have a strep throat every day? Because our bodies can fight off infection by these common germs. It is only when something disrupts the natural protective mechanisms of our body that they more easily will succomb. At this time of year most commonly allergy is the culprit.

Besides catching colds what else can happen to us that would make us want to reduce our susceptability? There is a reason why doctors test for strep but not all the other germs. Strep throat will usually go away within 10-14 days by itself but each time you catch one there is a risk that the body's healing process will leave you with rheumatic heart disease or arthritis (and those are bad). There is also the risk that if allergies persist through long enough periods each year the buildup of inflammatory fluid inside the ears will result in erosion of the 3 little bones that conduct sound from the eardrum to the inner ear. When people say they must be "getting a little old" because their hearing is deteriorating they usually are wrong. The aging process itself does little to damage our hearing. Only loud sounds and infective or inflammatory processes are likely to make you deaf; the worst part is hearing loss is not generaly reversable. Once you're deaf you'll be deaf; so take care of your ears, your heart and your joints. speak to Dr. Parnas about ways to combat these effects today. (Or any doctor you like and trust- also, just be sure they know you well).

Clearing the eustachian tube (the little tube that goes between the inside of your ear and the inside of your nose) may be as simple as using some plain saline (salt water) nasal spray several times a day when you have a cold. You can buy this as generic or as OCEAN DROPS in most any drugstore. It is unfortunate that it only helps a little for allergies. A variety of medications and natural products are available that could effectively minimise that problem for you or someone you know... (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)