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ALLERGIES, CANDIDA AND ASTHMA: IMMUNOLOGY

admin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:55:07 +0000

Resistance to systemic candidiasis depends on cell-mediated immunity, which can be assessed quite easily with a multitest (CMI). Cellular immunity is not the only determinant of infective capacity, however. The ability of the immune system to form antibodies also appears to be crucial to the survival of animals infected with Candida albicans.
Antibodies are seldom, if ever, formed by non-infected people but are often present in cases of candidiasis. When they are not, the diagnostician is clearly given a warning that something is amiss. Immunoglobulins E (IgE) are often raised against Candida in infected people. The diagnosis of candidiasis should not rest on any one single finding, however, because each one can give some false positive and false negative results. Some Candida antibodies tests have an accuracy rate of around 90 per cent. Failure to mount an antibodies defence during a Candida infection is a sign of underlying immunological/biochemical or other problem that should be thoroughly investigated.
Manifestation of visceral (digestive) candidiasis can be subtle and the blood culture is often negative; however, nearly all serological tests have detected antibodies against antigens from yeast organisms.
Allergy Tests
The IgE, radio allergo absorbent test (RAST), skin scratch, end pointing, intradermal and/or sublingual provocation tests will all indicate if someone is allergic to Candida, a variety of associated moulds and fungi. It will also help to differentiate between air-borne moulds and food-borne mould and fungi allergies. These tests are essential for all asthmatics!
I never cease to be amazed at the number of asthma sufferers who have never had an allergy test or, if they have, were not offered either environmental advice or allergy desensitising treatment. This can take various forms, including sublingual allergy drops, homeopathic remedies or neutralising injections.
There is a reasonable correlation between an elevated IgE count and allergies in general as well as Candida in particular. Another advantage of these tests is that if the patient has overt signs and symptoms of candidiasis (tinea; vaginal, oral or skin thrush; monilia and so on) and the tests are negative, this immediately alerts the diagnostician that there could be a problem with the patient’s ability to mount an immunological defence against the organism. As with the Candida antibodies blood test, these tests are often very useful when they are negative.
Cell-mediated Immunity Test (CMI)
This test includes Candida in a number of challenges applied simultaneously to the skin. It is an excellent test, not only for Candida, but to ascertain if it is this particular aspect of one’s immunity that is at fault. Of course it also ferrets out those patients with very poor immune responses (anergy). These are the ones who are more likely to suffer with chronic Candida infections and allergies as well as CFS, asthma and other health problems.
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ALLERGY AND IMMUNOLOGY: HOW IMMUNOTHERAPY WORKS

admin — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 12:15:26 +0000

The key “immune” players in allergic reactions are IgE antibodies, mast cells, basophil cells, and the chemicals released from these cells, called mediators. It is on these antibodies, cells, and mediators that immunotherapy exerts its effects.
Before immunotherapy, IgE antibodies (the allergy antibodies) increase in number after a season of exposure to the pollen(s) to which you are allergic. After immunotherapy, the level of these antibodies decreases and no longer or only slightly increases after a season of exposure. The general trend is for the IgE antibody level to decrease during your course of immunotherapy. Before immunotherapy, your mast cells and basophil cells bind with the IgE antibodies and release chemicals whenever these antibodies react with something to which you are allergic. After immunotherapy, there is a decreased release of chemical mediators from these cells after exposure to an allergen. Decreased release means fewer symptoms for you.
We all have the ability to make antibodies to anything that invades our body: food, viruses, bacteria, and airborne allergens. We all make a certain amount of IgG antibody to airborne allergens. Immunotherapy causes us to make much more IgG antibody to the allergens in our shots. In theory this antibody functions as a “blocking antibody.” Ideally, there should be so much more of IgG than IgE antibody that when an airborne allergen invades your system, it binds with IgG rather than IgE. Since the binding of IgG and allergen does not set off an allergic reaction, fewer chemicals are released into your nasal tissue and you suffer fewer symptoms.
Immunotherapy works through a combination of these effects, rather than via a single effect.
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FOOD INTOLERANCE: MAGGIE’S STORY

admin — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:29:07 +0000

Like many mothers with young children, Maggie found it difficult to make time for a proper breakfast or lunch. She made up for this by eating a large evening meal with her husband, after which she usually suffered indigestion. By sucking indigestion tablets she could settle her stomach in time for bed, but then the pattern would be repeated the next day. Eventually the pain in her stomach became quite severe and she began to feel generally unwell. Once the children went to school this improved, but she still suffered indigestion most days. She now had a job as receptionist at a doctor’s surgery, and the doctor noticed Maggie constantly sucking indigestion tablets.

He discovered that Maggie had never consulted a doctor about her problem, which had now been going on for almost eight years, and suggested that she should do so. After examining her carefully, her own doctor decided that there was nothing seriously wrong, and suggested that she try to relax and eat more slowly. She also recommended a bland diet, so Maggie began to eat more cottage cheese and drink warm milk instead of tea. Within two weeks her indigestion was a great deal worse, which provided a clue to the cause of the poblem. As an experiment, Maggie switched to a diet containing no milk at all, and her indigestion cleared up completely a few days later.

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