The Complete Allergy Book: Everything You Need to Know (Your Personal Health) - Softcover

Engel PhD, June

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1552092038 ISBN 13: 9781552092033

Publisher: Firefly Books, 1997

Synopsis

"I would highly recommend The Complete Allergy Book to my patients and their families, as I would to anyone who needs a better understanding of allergy (doesn't everyone!)."
David B.K. Golden, MD, FACP
Associate Professor of Medicine, John Hopkins University, Baltimore

With its detailed drug tables, informative sidebars, and excellent diagrams, this book gives you the straight facts about a condition that affects about one-fifth of the world's population.

Every year people die from allergy-triggered causes, including asthma. Many people with allergies don't seek medical help; yet if they understood more about their condition, they could obtain better relief and have greater control.

June Engel begins with a general overview of allergic reactions, and then discusses the many aspects of these increasingly, common ailments. Among her topics:

the immune system and how it works
how to diagnose allergies and track down triggers
medications and how to use them
treatments for childhood allergies
new approaches for the management of asthma
the particular problems of food, skin, drug, and insect allergies

About this title

About the Author

June Engel, Ph.D., is a biochemist and editor of the Faculty of Medicine's award-winning newsletter Health News at the University of Toronto. She has written several health books, including The Complete Breast Book.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

Allergies which affect an estimated 40 million people in North America alone, are a major reason for doctor visits and absences from school and work, and cause untold distress. This book is intended to help all allergy sufferers, and those caring for them, understand the disorder and manage it as effectively as possible, in partnership with competent healthcare providers.

We speak of "allergy" as if it were one disorder, but with its multitude of symptoms and its numerous triggers it seems more like many. It's hardly surprising that early medical writers failed to recognize the connection between someone who sniffles and sneezes every spring, someone whose lips swell on eating fish and someone who goes into shock and dies from a wasp sting. Even modern allergists sometimes have a hard time classifying allergies, since they can be categorized according to their triggers, the parts of the body they affect or the age at which they usually occur.

I have tried to organize this book in a simple, understandable manner, to give you accurate, up-to-date, in-depth knowledge that will help you "take charge" and deal with your problem -- whether it's seasonal or year-round; whether it's triggered by a food, pollen, insect or drug; whether it affects your skin, eyes or lungs. My emphasis is on how you can improve your lifestyle and environmental control to reduce your symptoms, and how, when necessary, you can make use of medications, with the aid and advice of medical experts.

Although the description of what goes wrong in allergies, in Chapter Two, is somewhat complicated, it is intended to give you some understanding of the many complex immune-system changes that cause allergic reactions, and to explain why and how present and future treatments may work. Chapter Five includes detailed lists of anti-allergy medications currently available, describing which types suit particular allergies, to help you make the right choices, and use these drugs to best effect. Some common brand names are included as examples, but this is in no way an endorsement; your pharmacist or physician can help you decide between products.

Although children's allergies are often similar to those of adults, some aspects are quite different. Chapter Eight focuses on the specific problems of allergic children. Over the last few decades, scientists have made considerable strides in diagnosing and treating allergies. Today, more than 90 percent of those with hay fever and year-round allergic rhinitis can ease their symptoms effectively; eye symptoms can now be relieved more readily and safely; and many asthma sufferers can control their disease using a greater variety of anti-inflammatory medications. New guidelines are improving the emergency care for severe allergic reactions.

Immunotherapy -- allergy shots, among the oldest allergy therapies, at one time inappropriately and unscientifically dispensed -- has been much refined. Purified extracts for immunotherapy are being developed, and scientific studies have identified those for whom allergy injections provide appropriate and effective treatment with little risk.

Scientists have also made major advances in understanding the biochemical steps in the allergic process, and new drugs and therapies based on this research are being developed. For example, vaccines that prevent or block allergic reactions are now in the testing phase in the U.S. and Canada, and may soon be on the market.

However, despite all this progress, many concerns remain -- especially the apparent increase in allergies, with the accompanying misery, missed work days and rare but often needless fatalities. The rising incidence and severity of asthma, especially among the young, are particularly worrisome; the increase is attributed largely to failure to recognize asthma and treat it early, and to the fact that asthma's severity is often underestimated until it reaches life-threatening proportions. Chapter Nine gives a thorough explanation of the mechanism and triggers of asthma, a rundown of new treatment approaches, practical tips for day-to-day management and ways to develop an "action plan" to help keep severe attacks at bay.

I hope the information in this book will allow you to understand what causes your allergy, and to develop the most effective management strategies possible -- founded on knowledge and evidence-based methods, rather than hearsay or "hit and miss" therapies. It should also help you communicate better with your medical caregivers, and know which questions to ask to get as much relief as possible.

J.E.

About this edition

• Publisher: Firefly Books
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 1552092038
• ISBN 13: 9781552092033
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 310