Herbal Health

Reduce your exposure to chemicals and fumes as much as you can during the test period. Stay out of places where chemicals are heavily used, such as hospitals, doctors’ surgeries, hairdressers’ or barbers’, and swimming baths. Some shops are full of chemical fumes -chemists’, perfumeries, newsagents’, shoe shops, DIY shops, television shops, clothes shops – so do not spend too long in any of these. Keep out of dry-cleaners’ and away from agricultural spraying. Drive or travel as little as you can. If you walk through traffic, try to stay away from busy roads and junctions.

Ban smoking in your home and elsewhere around you if you can. Avoid pubs, or public places where people smoke. If you go out to a cinema, concert or evening event, other people’s toiletries may bother you – perfumes, cologne and hairsprays, in particular – so limit how much you go out during the elimination programme.

Do what you can at work. If you work with chemicals, say in a shop, at a hairdressers’, at a garage, in a dry-cleaners’ or in a factory, there may be little you can do, but try. In offices, computers, photocopiers, paper stores, and new furniture are potent sources of fumes. You may have no choice but to stay close to them, but keep away as much as you can. Make sure the office is well ventilated and take frequent breaks in the fresh air.

At home, it helps if you can avoid using gas and paraffin cookers and fires that give off strong fumes. Use alternative heaters; perhaps borrow a microwave for cooking if you can. If you have to use a gas cooker, keep its use to a minimum, and ventilate well. (Gas central heating, and gas Agas, offer little problem unless you are extremely sensitive, so continue using these unless you notice they are causing you to react.)

Keep television watching to a minimum; only have your set on if you are actually watching something. Fumes from televisions do not bother some people at all, but they can give others real trouble. Take care with computers in the same way.

Put newspapers, brochures, magazines and any other paper away, in a drawer or cupboard for preference, unless they are actually being read or used. These can be potent sources of fumes. Stop using paper handkerchieves and kitchen paper towels.

Avoid buying anything new during the test period. If you do, leave it in a spare room or outside the home to air.

Once you have done these things, you should have eliminated most of the major hazards in your immediate environment. If you find anything around you that particularly bothers you (such as a piece of furniture, or plastic equipment), then put it in a spare room, outside the home, or cover it up with a sheet or cloth for the period of testing.

Follow this programme for at least a week, and up to three weeks, if you can sustain it.

After this time, you can reintroduce things you want to use, or increase your exposure to everyday chemicals and see what you are able to tolerate. Do this one thing at a time, preferably only once every few days, and no more than one a day. Monitor your symptoms as you proceed. See how things go, and gradually find out exactly what you can and cannot tolerate.

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Particle boards, of which the most common is called chipboard, are made of chips of wood bonded together by adhesive resins, usually formaldehyde resins. They are used in many applications in building and fumiture-making, often as a base for wood veneer, and as a base for plastic or melamine decorative finishes. They provide the structure for most fitted kitchen and bedroom cupboards, the core for work surfaces and can be used for partitions, wall and ceiling linings, and for flooring.

These boards have a high resin content relative to other building boards, and can give out significant amounts of free formaldehyde, especially when new, or when being cut or installed. If you have relatively small amounts of chipboard in your home, say only in the kitchen, and if it is not new, then it will probably not bother you too much. But chipboard can be a problem if you are exceptionally sensitive to formaldehyde, if you have large amounts in your home, or if you have newly installed chipboard – say in a new floor or fitted kitchen, for instance.

Unless chipboard bothers you a great deal, it may be better to leave it in place, and allow it to gas out over time, rather than to go to the expense and risk of replacement. If chipboard is exposed anywhere, or if it is used as flooring, sealing it with varnish will reduce the level of fumes escaping. Fit an impervious floor covering such as linoleum, rather than carpets, to reduce vapours.

If you decide to replace chipboard, or have to have work done, then wherever possible use alternatives without formaldehyde resins, or with lower resin contents.

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The most powerful versions of filters, probably better suited to office or workroom use, are the Filtaire 600S, the Enviracaire and the NSA 7100A.

The Filtaire 600S is identical in technical design to the Anatomia Filtaire 300, with fabric and carbon filters. It is larger in capacity and size, more effective and made with a metal casing. It is available at about £400 from Ascot Heath. Filters are of similar cost to the Anatomia and need replacing at similar intervals.

The Enviracaire is round and quite bulky to move. It has a HEPA filter, thick fabric and activated carbon filters. It produces very pure air, but also a draught at ground level, and can be noisy even on low operation. It is priced at £215 (at 1992). Carbon filters need replacing every three to six months at £11 each, and the HEPA filter needs renewing every four to five years at £70.

The NSA 7100A is tall and looks like a piece of office equipment. It has a HEPA filter, plus carbon filters that are thinner than the Enviracaire. It can be manoeuvred easily, being light and on castors. The air it produces is very clean, but the unit itself is made up of a slightly aromatic plastic and can be troublesome to some people with chemical sensitivity. It costs £360 (at 1992). The carbon filters need replacing every six months at £20 each, and the HEPA filter every two years at £60. It is available from Beta-Plus or NSA distributors (addresses below).

All suppliers of devices should offer you a trial period in case a machine does not suit you, or you do not find it effective. Check that you can return a machine before you make a purchase.

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All the companies listed below provide a mail order service.

Bakery products and flours

The following firms supply bakery products and flours by post, including special mixes and food substitutes. Custom Bake will supply baked cakes and other products, using any ingredients you specify.

Cantassium Foodwatch International

Custom Bake Nutricia

Diet Care Suma

General Designs

Organic foods

Church Farm Natural Foods (London area)

Countryside Wholefoods Naturally Yours

Green Farm Foodwatch Organic Farmers and Growers

Infinity Foods Suma

Organic fruit and vegetables Organic Farmers and

Growers Red House Farm

Church Farm

Countryside Wholefoods

Natural Foods (London area)

Organic meat, conservation-grade and additive-free meat, poultry, sausages, ham, bacon

Church Farm      Organic Farmers and Growers

Greenway Organic Farms Pure Meat Company

Heal Farm Real Meat Company

Longwood Farm Red House Farm

Murray Meats

Natural Foods (London area)

For sausages made to your recipe:

Church Farm

Heal Farm

Red House Farm

For goat’s meat:

Murray Meats

Goat’s cheese, goat’s milk powder

Countryside Wholefoods Paxton & Whitfield Suma

Green Farm Foodwatch

Market Pantry Natural Foods (London area)

Sheep’s cheese, sheep’s milk powder

Foodwatch International Suma

Market Pantry Natural Foods (London area) Sussex High Weald Wells Stores

Paxton & Whitfield

Yogurt culture, cheese culture, rennet

Smallholding Supplies

Suma

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The pattern of disease varies widely. Some people develop allergies very early in life, develop new allergies readily and have wide-ranging problems for most of their lives. Other people can show no sign of trouble, and then develop one or more allergies much later in life, often for no apparent reason. The severity of reaction also varies greatly from individual to individual.

The first time an allergen is encountered, it sets off the primary response from the immune system, to manufacture antibodies to it. No reaction will occur at this first meeting; it is not until the next encounter, or often some time later if you have a particularly heavy exposure to something, that you will react.

Babies in the womb can become sensitised to substances, especially foods, passed from the mother, so they can appear to be born with allergies. Preconceptual and antenatal care can help avoid or minimise this and it is worth taking precautions if you have any history of allergy in the family, not just in the mother (> CHARITIES).

Sensitivity to allergens can vary a great deal. Some people find, for instance, that if they eliminate allergens from their own home or work environment, they can tolerate them reasonably well when they meet them elsewhere. Some people, who live abroad for a while and then return to the UK, find that their level of tolerance to native pollens can change. Other people find, however, that their sensitivity remains very high and lifelong after initial sensitisation, and they have to take extreme care to avoid allergens completely.

The immune system appears to be able to recognise molecules or substances that are related to each other. This means that you are more prone to develop an allergy to something chemically or biologically related to a substance you are already allergic to. In some people, this never happens, but in others, ‘cross-reaction’ or ‘cross-reactivity’ is quite a strong phenomenon. You may need to take care to prevent cross-reaction.

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