ALLERGIES: ALLERGY SUFFERERS
Allergy sufferers are said to be strongly immunised against an antigen and have far more antibodies in their blood than non-allergic people. Although allergic diseases themselves are not inherited, the tendency for the immune system to over-react to an antigen can be passed on from parent to child.
If one parent is allergic there is a 50 per cent chance any offspring will be. If both parents are allergic there is a 75 per cent chance offspring will be. Allergy sufferers differ from non-allergic people in that they have antibodies permanently attached to the basophils and mast cells in their bodies. Because it is the tendency to allergic reaction that is passed on, all allergies can be successfully treated. This is because the allergy itself is carried in the blood and once the allergens have been identified and removed from the diet and environment it's only a matter of time before those remaining in the blood are eliminated through the kidneys. When this happens the allergy, be it arthritis, psoriasis, asthma, eczema, sinusitis, hayfever, fluid retention or depression, will disappear.
So just because your grandmother and mother suffered from any one of the allergy symptoms listed in this book, it doesn't mean you have to.
Because allergies are carried in the blood, an allergic pregnant mother can prevent allergies developing in her child by removing from her diet and environment those things she's allergic to. Although the mother may well pass on the genetic predisposition to allergy, the actual allergy won't be passed on. Perhaps the greatest advantage to the child of the mother, who has her allergies treated in pregnancy or before, is the removal of the possibility of experiencing more severe allergies than the parents. Dr Pottenger noted that each new generation of cats had more severe allergies than their parents. Many of his third generation cats died from complications of their condition. So poor was their health that only three of the one hundred third generation asthmatic cats lived to begin breeding the subsequent healthy generation.
Many a parent of allergic children I have treated has remarked that they were never as allergic as their children when they were young. However, many mothers experienced a worsening of their allergies after the stress of childbirth or the stress of pregnancy termination. Childbirth sees a massive loss to the body of fluid, oxygen, vitamins and minerals in the placenta and amniotic fluid. Breastfeeding sees a further loss of these nutrients. Pregnancy termination sees the same loss in the blood and dead foetus. In my experience these mothers do not overcome their allergies unless their diets are supplemented with a complete multi-vitamin and mineral formula, particularly if they're breastfeeding. *9\18\9*
