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MoonDragon's Alternative Health Information
Medicinal Therapies
CLINICAL ECOLOGY
Based on the idea that the environment can affect health, clinical ecology, sometimes called environmental medicine, developed from early 20th century research into allergies. Practitioners claim that many disorders may be caused by environmental factors, including certain foods, pollen, dust, exhaust fumes, and pesticides; rather than causing full-blown allergic reactions, these lead to milder symptoms known as "intolerances" or "sensitivities." Treatment aims to identify irritants with tests and then minimize exposure. Clinical ecology is growing in the West as concern about pollution increases.
MoonDragon's Health & Wellness: Allergies
HISTORY
Abnormal reactions to food were recorded in ancient Greece by Hippocrates, the "father of medicine", but only in 1906 was the term "allergy" coined, by the Viennese pediatrician Baron Clemens von Pirquet. He realized that some of his patients reacted to certain foods, pollen, or insect stings, and used the term to describe any unusual response to the environment.
Baron Clemens von Pirquet studied patients' abnormal responses to environmental factors and defined the term allergy as "altered reactivity".
Allergies came to be defined as reactions within the immune system, identified by a positive skin-prick test. (See under Consulting A Practitioner.)
From the 1920s, several American health care providers studied "delayed" or "hidden" food allergies. Reactions took longer to appear than other allergies, were less acute, and provoked no skin-test response. Most health care providers rejected these ideas about food "intolerances" or sensitivities, and there was little research within mainstream medicine.
In the late 1940s, American allergist Dr. Thereon G. Randolph claimed that sensitivity to common foods could cause symptoms such as headaches and arthritis, and that environmental chemicals could have profound negative effects. The best seller "Silent Spring", a 1962 book by American biologist Rachel Carson, alerted the world to the dangers of insecticides.
At this time, the term "clinical ecology" began to be used to describe this field of medicine. The system gained ground in the U.K. during the 1970s and is practiced today throughout the Western world by qualified health care providers and complementary therapists.
KEY PRINCIPLES
Clinical ecologists believe the foods are the most likely environmental carriers of "toxins", and claim that anyone drinking unfiltered water and eating a typical Western diet is likely to ingest 100 synthetic chemicals daily. These include pesticides and herbicides sprayed on vegetables and fruits, residues of drugs fed to animals prior to slaughter, and preservatives in processed foods.
The body usually maintains health despite an onslaught of environmental toxins. For some people, particularly those susceptible to allergies, or those who have an infection or a diet deficient in antioxidant vitamins and minerals, it can become more difficult to cope. According to clinical ecologists, these people are more prone to developing inflammatory reactions, or even changes in brain chemistry, which can alter their mood and vitality. Practitioners use various tests to identify the substances causing trouble so that they can be avoided or limited. They may also try to "desensitize" the patient to the irritant.
A sample of air contains different plant pollens, any of which may prompt an allergic reaction when inhaled.
Soaring levels of chemicals found in exhaust fumes are thought to overload some people's capacity to deal with allergens and pollutants.
Pesticides and herbicides sprayed on crops are known to have a damaging effect on health.
EVIDENCE & RESEARCH
The scientific basis for clinical ecology has not been well established, and the associated diagnostic tests are considered unreliable. However, the detrimental effects of environmental pollution on health are becoming more apparent, and further research is needed. True allergies, like asthma, are already strongly linked to environmental factors, such as air pollution.
CONVENTIONAL MEDICAL OPINION
The premise that environmental irritants can affect health makes sense, but many conventional health care providers would question the effectiveness of pinpointing them. The idea that diagnostic tests can distinguish between stress-related and environmental factors belies the complexity of patients' problems, and it is too easy to jump to an environment-linked conclusion.
The practitioner may check for pale skin, shadows under the eyes, and swollen glands. Swollen glands which may indicate sensitivity to certain substances.
CONSULTING A PRACTITIONER
The practitioner asks about your medical history, diet, and lifestyle, to see if there is any evidence of exposure to irritants. He then checks for signs of sensitivity, such as swollen glands. A hair or blood test may be taken to determine mineral and nutritional factors thought to relate to the strength of the immune system. Other tests include:
- SKIN-PRICK TEST: Tiny samples of the diluted suspect substances applied to an area of scratched skin or injected under your skin. Any subsequent inflammation or itchiness indicates an allergy or sensitivity.
In a skin-prick test a dilution of the suspect substance is placed on an area of scratched skin.
- PULSE TEST: A change in pulse rate after eating a certain food is said to be a sign that you are sensitive to it. Some practitioners use the auriculocardiac reflex method, placing suspect substances next to the ear and noting any sudden increase in pulse rate.
- MUSCLE TEST: A solution of a suspected irritant is placed on your tongue or body. An inability to resist pressure then directed against a limb is seen to suggest intolerance.
- RAST (RADIO ALLERGO SORBENT TEST): This conventional blood test shows whether immunoglobulin E (IgE) has been made by your body, indicating an allergic reaction.
- CYTOTOXIC TEST: A blood sample is taken and mixed with extracts of the possible irritant. Damage to the white blood cells is said to suggest sensitivity.
- SUBLINGUAL DROP TEST: After 5 days of taking fluids only, a drop of a solution containing the suspect irritant is placed under the tongue and reactions noted.
- ELIMINATION DIET: After a diet of "neutral" foods, possible irritants are gradually reintroduced.
- VEGA TEST: Not approved in the U.S. - The Vega machine generates a low-voltage current applied to the skin; this is said to reveal "sensitivities" to suspect substances.
PRECAUTIONS
Check symptoms with a health care provider if consulting a clinical ecologist who is not medically qualified.
Carry out elimination diets only under qualified supervision to ensure adequate nutrition. The elimination diet should not be tried by someone with severe allergic responses, which can be life-threatening.
TREATMENT
The simplest treatment is to avoid any irritants identified, but this is not always practical. Your practitioner may opt to "desensitize" you using the following techniques so that the body can withstand limited exposure to the irritant.
The practitioner may recommend keeping a written record of when reactions take place, and in what circumstances, to help build up a complete picture of the problem.
EXCLUSION or ELIMINATION DIETS: Suspect foods, commonly dairy products, wheat, sugar, citrus fruits, nuts, eggs, or coffee, are excluded for 10-14 days in the hope that symptoms will disappear. Alternately, food intake is reduced to one or two items for 5 days, individual foods are then reintroduced until symptoms are triggered. The culprit food is eliminated and added a week later to see if symptoms return.
ENZYME-POTENTIATED DESENSITIZATION: The diluted irritant is mixed with an enzyme and kept next to the skin for several days.
PROVOCATION NEUTRALIZATION: Decreasing concentrations of the irritant are injected or given as drops under the tongue. The neutralizing dose is identified at the point at which no reaction occurs. This is then used as a vaccine once or twice a day.
In provocation neutralization, drops of up to nine different dilutions of an irritant are placed in turn under the tongue, using a pipette.
SELF-HELP
Your practitioner may suggest ways of changing your lifestyle to avoid exposure to irritants such as house dust, pollen, exhaust fumes, disinfectants, and chemicals in food and tap water. To avoid dust mites, air your bedding regularly and invest in a good vacuum cleaner. Keep the windows open for ventilation or use an air filter. Mild forms of chemical sensitivity may respond to antioxidant supplements, especially vitamins C and E, zinc, and selenium.
Drinking filtered tap water is a simple and effective way of reducing the amount of impurities absorbed by the body every day.
MEDICINAL THERAPIES
MoonDragon's Alternative Therapy: Naturopathy
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