Monday, August 29, 2011

Alternaria


I had never heard of Alternaria until last week when my son's skin prick test showed positive to it, and actually it was his worse showing allergy (that and dogs.)  According to Wikipedia, Alternaria is a genus of ascomycete fungi. Alternaria species are known as major plant pathogens. They are also common allergens in humans, growing indoors and causing hay fever or hypersensitivity reactions that sometimes lead to asthma.

Here's an excerpt from a research article on Alternaria:

“The Arizona Respiratory Center has determined that sensitivity to Alternaria spores is the single factor that most significantly correlates with the onset of childhood asthma in the Tucson area,” Pryor says. “After following childhood cases for over 20 years, this was one of the findings that really piqued their interest in Alternaria.”

Alternaria is one of the most common fungi worldwide, found literally everywhere, both indoors and outdoors. It produces long chains of spores that are easily dispersed through the air. “There is really no way to get away from it— it can live almost anywhere..."

So with that, we treated for Alternaria today.

11 comments:

  1. weird...are you going to have to clear his gates throughout the 25 hours?

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  2. Since it appears unavoidable, I rubbed his gates a couple times during treatment and also kept him inside. Hope that helps!

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  3. Hi there!
    always checking in on you and your son- glad things are going well.
    quick q
    why would there be no response to a skin test, yet a 6 on the RAST? did the doctor have any reason for that? And also how is wheat going? after all those treatments?
    and are you going to tackle nuts at some point?
    your sight is a blessing thank you.
    stephanie

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  4. oh yes! and how is asthma going without any of the meds?
    thanks

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  5. Thanks for checking in! Why the differences between the two tests? The doc said because they're both unreliable. So we have to go based on past reaction. At 2 years old he had an ANA reaction, so we have to continue to take precautions and treat it as an ANA allergy. If the blood test was lower, the doc would consider a trail, but right now it's too risky.

    As for the asthma, I meant to write about that. He was off for about a week and then we noticed more coughing so he's on 1 puff a day which seems to be working. We had a change in the weather along with a nasty ragweed season. None-the-less, he must not be cured yet. We'll try again some other time.

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  6. You also asked about wheat--so far it seems ok. He ate 3 pieces of pizza the other night without issue. I'm still leery, so I usually don't let him go overboard (he's not snacking on wheat all day.) There's probably a few more wheat combination treatments in his future, but I want to get a few other things out of the way first. Nuts will be the last thing we tackle, and I hear that's a very slow process (it's baby stepped the whole way.) How's things going for you?

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  7. thanks for response! will be interested to see how the blueberries go for him.
    I live in Australia, and am a NAET practitioner myself, but always like to do a little research , and see how people (patients and practitioners) are doing with it all over the world. It helps my practice. So much to learn as you have figured out and you could write a book on it yourself I am sure.
    I refer people to your site all the time, it is great to have this perspective, and taking the time for the updates really has helped so many people understand it better.
    have a great weekend-
    Steph

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  8. Thanks Steph! Yes, it's been a long haul. I do hope others can learn from my experience. I feel like I've paid a fortune for the advice and knowledge I've gotten, so why not share it if it can help someone else :)

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  9. I've been following your blog and can really relate to your son's food allergies and skin issues. I've tried all of the same treatments and products and always kept track of everything I ate as well as the daily pollen reports...trying to find the triggers to my skin reactions. For 2 years I was on and off Prednisone because I could not get relief. I had really bad reactions both indoors and outdoors for no rhyme or reason. Finally, I discovered excessive mold where I lived. I've been tested for mold allergy and the results said that I was mildly allergic to household molds but I was pretty sure that it was the mold because all other treatments and diets had failed. I also noticed that my symptoms sometimes went away (including food allergies) when I travelled. I moved out of the moldy house and started feeling better within 2 weeks. In addition, I don't have the same food or environmental reactions that I did before!  I noticed that your son seems to fare well when you travel. Perhaps there could be something in your home or town that is overloading your son's immune system? Thanks so much for sharing your experience, I hope that your son finds relief. You're such an awesome mom trying to get to the bottom of this mystery!

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  10. Hello .. I am a mother of a child with Eczema .. I am feeling hopeless since i am unable to find something that will help manage the flare ups (this has been an on-going battle and just seems to be getting worse :( ... i just found out that she is allergic to alternaria..that is how i stubbled up this .. any suggestions on how i can help my 11 yr old daughter... I appreciate it .. thanks

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    1. My son's skin does well with a combination of a good skin care routine (frequent bathing and Ce'raVe cream applied after) and a strict, controlled diet of foods he can tolerate which typically means mostly organic, no dyes, nothing artificial, etc. We have also been doing NAET for 2+ years which has allowed him to eat a broader range of foods and handle some of his environmental allergies. He also takes a few supplements that are suppose to help with inflammation--vitamin D, probiotics, and fish oil.

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