Allergy Elimination Therapeutics: (Or Autonomic Nervous System Re-programming of the Allergy/hypersensitivity stress response)

Transcription

1 Allergy Elimination Therapeutics: (Or Autonomic Nervous System Re-programming of the Allergy/hypersensitivity stress response) The last couple years has birthed a new approach to treating allergy/hypersensitivity, resulting in renewed hope for some and frustration and confusion for others- allergy sufferers and their health professionals who treat them. Health problems that can be attributed to allergy/hypersensitivity in full or in part are growing exponentially year after year, affecting all ages-infants, youths and the elderly. Those health-oriented professionals involved in allergy are finding that so many health conditions especially chronic and degenerative conditions, including chronic pain, have an allergic component. That allergy is a major health problem is obvious for some suffering from autoimmune diseases or multiple allergy syndromes. Others are not aware that allergy/hypersensitivity is part of their misery. However, many commonly occurring health problems as diverse as chronic skin conditions including acne and eczema, asthma, ADD, ADHD, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel and most GI disorders, migraine have an allergy component. Allergy as the trigger or perpetuating agent in many health problems can now be identified, treated and should be part of a comprehensive integrated treatment strategy for most chronic disorders. In this essay I will explore these new breed of allergy re-programming techniques in an attempt to understand their history, the latest understanding of what allergy is- how it occurs and how in can be eliminated, an overview of the assessment and treatment techniques and why these techniques should be part of a health restoration/enhancement program. My intended audience for this essay is both patient and practioner (student). I will not go into detail on techniques, principles or physiology that support these concepts on allergy. However, monographs, which further explain what we are discussing here are available upon request from our office. Our practice is to teach our patients allergy elimination techniques and principles so that they can be practiced in the home. The success of the new approach to allergy treatment has baffled the Doctors and industry that have traditionally treated allergy. It has forced the whole field of allergy therapeutics to re-examine their principles. What is allergy and what is being treating? In addition, the emergence and understanding of the new field of Psycho-Neuro- Immunology, three previously distinct systems connected and functioning as one, has reinforced the clinical experiences and offered valuable insight to the Allergy Elimination Techniques that we will be discussing. Traditional Physicians have viewed allergy as an immunological system dysfunction. Psycho-neuroimmunology implies that the immunological system is intricately connected with the autonomic nervous system and the psycho-emotional brain becoming one inseparable system leaving open a entirely new dynamic in treating allergy. What could be the possible health purpose of allergy- is allergy a symptom of something else? Recognizing that a naturopathic principle is that all-physiological process and reactions/symptoms of our bodies ultimately has a purpose. Should we not try to learn and understand what the body is telling us through its allergic symptoms and not try to suppress them? Why do patients allergy symptoms change, spread, have 1

2 thresholds of tolerance and in general vary so much? These and other observations are many confusing aspects about allergy, which can now be understood in light of allergy being a dysfunction of the Psycho-neuroimmunological system and not just the immunological system. Some patients have already experienced the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) re-programming techniques that we are discussing with varying results. Some have received limited to no lasting health results, while others have benefited greatly. Why? Allergy in general and ANS reconditioning to allergy in particular is a very young science, and we all have a lot more to learn. I hope this essay helps. The ANS Stress Response and Allergy But what is being re-programmed and why? What are the reason allergies develop in the first place? Obviously something has gone astray but what and why? If we understand that everything (all symptoms) in the body happens for a reason (either adaptive or mal-adaptive), then allergy should be no exception. We now understand that the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is being reprogrammed to a conditioned stress (allergy) during the allergy elimination techniques. The ANS is our functional nervous system responsible for normal physiological control of all bodily functions. The ANS turns on and off blood flow and is responsible for adapting to all the physical and mental conditions to which we subject ourselves. It regulates all organs, glandular functions, and skeleto-muscular structures and modulates the immune response. In addition the ANS is intricately related to the emotional centers of the brain. The ANS is constantly adapting to keeping our internal milieu as healthy as it can. The ANS prime job is to sense our external and internal environment and functionally adapt to preserve life. The ANS coordinates all the bodily activities through its vast sensory input from the organs, structures and the five senses to the ANS brain centers. The ANS stores a vast amount of information about the health and well being of the person. Allergy is created from an ANS reaction, an adaptation or maladaptations, from its primary role to defend our body from (perceived or real) harm. Let s explore this further. When the ANS perceives a stress to be overwhelming it creates a remembered stress response, so that whenever a similar situation occurs in the future an autonomic (automatic) reaction occurs to remind or defend the body of the problem. Allergy is defined as an exaggerated response to commonly occurring substances. Allergy in terms of the ANS is a programmed stress response due to an adaptation or maladaptations to preserve or defend the body s milieu. However, the substances that people become allergic to- foods; environmental substances like pollen, molds, mites and dust; chemicals; the physical environment; and sometimes other people should not normally cause an allergic (ANS) stress response. And it won t, unless functional problems (ANS sensory overload) pre-exist. A prior stress overload of the functional nervous system (ANS), and/or a certain degree of (ANS sensory) chaos needs to be present for the ANS to overreact (or mal-adapt) and create an allergic response to a commonly occurring substance. In short, the ANS becomes confused and perceives that (for example) the wheat you are having for diner is a threat to your health. The ANS creates a remembered stress response to remind/defend you from the allergic danger. The result of the ANS 2

3 stress response is an autonomic reaction, which are the symptoms called allergy. Note that the allergic response may or may not have an immunological component (produce antibodies or sensitized immune cells). The Immunological system appears to be under the control of the ANS. The major stresses that affect the ANS, have the greatest impact to our functional regulation and predispose the person to allergy will be reviewed at the end of this essay. If allergy therefore is a mal-adaptation of an ANS stress response, then biofeedback techniques, which measure stress response (assessment) and ANS reprogramming techniques, which recondition the stress reactions, should be successfully therapeutic to eliminate the allergic stress response. The Allergy Elimination Therapeutics utilizes ANS reprogramming techniques. History of Allergy and the Evolution of ANS Allergy Reprogramming: Dr. Devi Nambudripad, a nurse, chiropractor and acupuncturist is credited with birthing and making popular the Allergy elimination techniques. Her technique NAET- Nambudripad s Allergy Elimination Technique, has educated many physicians, chiropractors, dentists, acupuncturists and others over the years. The popularity of NAET, and the number of diverse practitioners who employ her techniques have caught the attention of the entire allergy industry- the traditional allergy physicians, the drug companies, the environmental physicians and their millions of patients. Dr. Devi s own story of NAET development is quite interesting- a story of her own quest for finding solutions to her health problems. In her childhood and into her early adult years, she was quite miserable, riddled with health issues, asthma, chronic pain and extreme allergies to foods, her environment- almost everything. The pursuit of her multiple professions was an attempt to find some answers to her own health issues. Her condition gradually deteriorated despite the multiple therapies, conventional and alternative that she tried. Her generalized hyper-reactive state ultimately resulted in finding that the only foods she tolerated without and allergic reaction was white rice and cauliflower. Her technique for allergy elimination was accidentally discovered when she fell asleep (passed out) with carrots in her mouth, while treating herself with acupuncture. When she awoke she realized that the carrots, to which she previously had been highly reactive, was no longer affecting her. Investigating how that desensitization occurred, she discovered that her allergic response to foods, environmental substances and chemicals could be eliminated through a sequence of acupuncture and osteopathic procedures. Researching for many years, Dr. Nambudripad developed her specific reprogramming technique, NAET, to ensure consistency and reproducibility for a large group of health practioners she would teach. Dr. Devi was not the first to develop biofeedback re-programming techniques for resolving allergic responses, nor the last. Dr. Denton, with Total Body Modification, TBM, Dr. Bresnhol, and most recently Dr. Ellen Cuttler, calling her technique Bio-Set, offer biofeedback allergy reconditioning techniques. 3

4 Traditional medical allergists diagnose and treat the immunological component of allergy. Their tools are drugs and diluted injections to modify and suppress the allergic response. The biochemical and physiological understanding of the immune system has grown rapidly and medical science has developed many new drugs to modulate the immune response. Another group of Physicians, the environmental medical allergist, broke from the traditional allergists many years ago. They observed that allergies and hypersensitivities to foods, chemicals, environmental substances etc., occurred regularly and frequently and were not able to be demonstrated by an antibody response. (NOTE: Traditional allergists contend that allergy only exists if there is a measurable antibody IgE, IgG, IgM or sensitized immune cell reaction). The environmental physicians observed that many patients were mildly to severely affected by their environment- the food, air, dwellings They found that their patients consistently hyper-responded to repeatable allergens and once identified and eliminated, the multiple symptoms that they experienced abated. These Physicians formed the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM). They expanded the assessment of allergy to identify allergens through antibody skin tests, new types of blood reaction tests and/or the provocative challenge. The provocative challenge became the AAEM gold standard for assessing allergy/hypersensitivity. In short, a provocative challenge is when a patient withdraws from the food or the environmental substance for 5-7 days, then eats or contacts the suspected allergen. The reaction if any is recorded. The withdrawing from the allergen appears to heighten the hyper-response and when re-introduced the cause and effect is more evident. These Physicians consistently observed that many substances created an exaggerated response to commonly occurring substances with or without the concurrent immunological response. The AAEM physicians in developing multiple blood tests for allergies were able to demonstrate delayed allergy, which was hard to measure by the provocative challenge test. In delayed allergic responses, the reaction could be hours to days after the exposure, which could make the reaction after a challenge very hard to detect. These Physicians developed a new treatment technique of dilutions of the allergens in serum injectionsone that is individually tailored to the patient s reaction, often in very small (homeopathic) dilution. They became the experts in treating the patients with multiple allergic reaction. They furthermore became very aware of the need to detoxify and nutritionally support their patients in their health recovery. The multiple ways allergy can manifest can be confusing, especially when the connection between the ANS and allergy is not understood. The allergic response can be immediate or delayed; it can be severe, as in anaphylactic reactions, or mild; it can literally affect any organ, structure or symptom- i.e. stomach symptoms/dysfunction, migraine, arthritis, behavioral disorders in kids and their parents, asthma, skin disorders, fibromyalgia to name a few; the allergy response may occur after the slightest exposure, or after a certain threshold of exposure has been reached; allergies appear to increase in amount and severity for some adding to their misery and chronic disorders; the allergic symptoms/condition sometimes appear to spread and change or switch their focal organ/structure. I.E. A milk allergy may manifest as bronchial and sinus congestion, then switch to a stomach disorder. 4

5 Neither the traditional Medical physician allergists, nor the Physicians from the AAEM, or Dr. Nambudripad fully understood that allergy/hypersensitivity is an ANS disturbance- a normal, but maladaptive reaction of the functional nervous system (ANS). Much of the understanding of the ANS, its role in health and healing and its clinical modulation has been due to the teachings, clinical experience and the empirical observations of Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt MD. PhD. and the teachers and his students in Europe, the Americas and Asia that he has assembled around him. I feel privileged to consider myself one of his students. Dr. Klinghardt is the one who has correctly identified allergy as a patterned ANS stress response, which may or may not have an immunological component (and therefore produce antibodies). What are some of the well-established therapeutics, which affect and help regulate a disturbed ANS? You guessed it acupuncture, osteopathic manipulation, breathing exercises, rhythmic tapping and reflex points and psycho-emotional reprogramming techniques- all the techniques that are employed in Allergy Elimination Therapeutics. The Reprogramming Techniques for Allergy The different re-programming techniques for allergy elimination appear to be evolving. Although potentially confusing to the Health-practitioners and their patients, the multiplicity of methodology is a natural progression of any new technique, allergy elimination being no exception. As practioners apply their old and new concepts to a particular treatment protocol, the effectiveness of results are observed and new plateaus in treatment are reached. In the early 90 s, Dr. Nambudripad s allergy elimination techniques, NAET, were introduced and blended with the concepts of the ANS made popular by Dr. Klinghardt. Currently there is no one allergy elimination technique universally practiced. There is Nambudripad s NAET; Ellen Cuttler, a student of Dr. Nambudripad, technique is Bio-set; there is Dr. Klinghardt s technique which uses psycho-emotional reprogramming with the allergic stressor on the patient; there are techniques taught by students of Drs. Klinghardt and Nambudripad, Doug Phillips DDS. and Ann McCombs, DO. The allergy elimination technique taught at Capital University of Integrated Medicine is as much a concept as a technique. Developed by Drs. Louella Connell LAcc. Phd. Doctor of Integrated Medicine and myself, Mark McClure DDS., ND., Doctor of Integrated Medicine, we have blended (and streamlined) many of the procedures of our colleagues with our own research. Our purpose is to reprogram the allergic stress response as profoundly as possible using multiple techniques and doing it in an efficient, effective and reproducible manner. In summary, there is no one proven superior method currently being used by a majority of practitioners to reprogram the ANS to eliminate an allergic stress response. The new allergy elimination therapeutics should be thought of as a concept and not a specific technique for it is quickly evolving and changing as additional Doctors becoming experienced and recognizing its value. 5

6 The current state of Allergy Elimination Therapeutics (AET): There are two parts to AET. This essay will highlight the principles only. Copies of the techniques, along with a monograph to further explain the concepts we are developing, are available upon calling or writing our office. I Assessment: What to re-program and how. A. Allergen Assessment: ANS biofeedback is used to identify a stress response to a particular allergen. For most practioners, this is accomplished by muscle testing. However, other forms of ANS biofeedback, namely heart rate changes and changes in electrical potentials at digital acupuncture points can also be substituted. B. Patient Preparation: All serious practioners of Applied Kinesiology (AK) recognize that the patient can display variability when muscle testing, calling into question the accuracy and reliability of the AK biofeedback test. Those practitioners, who follow Dr. Klinghardt s established concepts and rules of Autonomic Response Testing, rectify this problem in a certain manner. (By testing the patient with open regulation and eliminating any acute focus- ask for ART monograph to explain these techniques and concepts in detail). Dr. Devi and others have other methods of balancing the ANS to obtain accurate muscle testing data. The important principle for practioners (and patients using these techniques at home, which we encourage some of our patients to do) is the patient must be properly prepared for muscle testing accuracy. Violation of patient preparation principles often render in inconsistent AET results C. The ANS can stress in both the sympathetic and/or the parasympathetic component and both need to be assessed and treated separately: The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) will demonstrate a stress response when the allergen is held in the hand. The parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) will demonstrate a stress response by a change in the muscle response when the skin over the (PNS) is touched while the allergen is held in the hand. The SNS stress is recognized by most schools of allergy elimination, however the PNS stress to the allergen, which may be present with or without a SNS stress, is not well understood nor assessed. We have found that the SNS and PNS stress response to the allergen must be identified and treated for satisfactory results. Holding the allergic substance in the hand or in a glass vial will evoke a stress response (positive muscle test). In addition, it has been found that holding the frequency signature of the substance in the hand is a strong enough signal for the ANS to register a stress response. Most AET practioners use vials where the frequency of the allergen(s) are impregnated for their in office AET treatment. Allergens can sometimes trigger responses in combinations, which has to be identified and treated. For example, wheat and sugar may have to be treated together. There is a psycho-emotional component associated with every allergic stress response which responds to Eye Movement Directional Therapy and specifically 6

7 colored glasses. By identifying and treating the allergen with psycho-emotional reprogramming techniques (which un-couples the Limbic brain-autonomic Nervous System stress reaction connection), the depth and profundity of the AET can greatly be enhanced. The number of allergies that can successfully be reprogrammed per treatment session varies. Dr. Nambudripad has developed NAET to treat only one allergen at a time, starting with her basic 10 food groups. The time and expense commitment by many patients with multiple allergies tackling one at a time is considerable. Other AET practitioners, including us, have experience consistently clearing multiple allergies per session. However, the reprogramming techniques employed become critical for consistent and successful treatment of multiple allergies simultaneously. II Treatment- the Reprogramming: A. Allergen Re-programming: The most profound ANS therapeutic intervention is when the patient, after therapy is in a Yin state. The Yin state is a physiological demonstrated state where the patient has no resistance to any muscle testing (totally weakening of muscle resistance) and a change in the heart rate variability is able to be measured. It has been our experience that a Yin state cannot be therapeutically achieved unless Limbic brain reprogramming is incorporated in the AET technique- I.E. the correct eye movement and the proper color of glasses. The theory behind Allergy elimination treatment is to stress the body to the allergen, which is accomplished by holding the allergen in the patient s hand (SNS stress). If a PNS stress is present to the allergen, the therapist or the patient holds the organ(s) that are demonstrating a stress reaction (PNS stress). While stressing both the sympathetic and parasympathetic component of the ANS in this manner the reprogramming techniques are employed. The sympathetic nervous system anatomically exits the spinal column over the thoracic and a portion of the lumbar spine. At each of these spinal segments, a very important nervous connection takes place- the paravertebral ganglia. The SNS paravertebral ganglia are ANS brain centers and are the focus of the reprogramming effort. The spine is indirectly manipulated through stimulation (tapping 33 times) a major acupuncture site that governs the spinal para-vertebral ANS nerves (SI 3). In addition it is directly manipulated by osteopathic manipulation of the spinal segments T-1 to L-2. Breathing patterns while performing the osteopathic manipulation of the spine will further deepen or reinforce the therapeutic effect. Utilizing auricular acupuncture to balance the patient s energy system is another enhancement of the AET technique that can be employed. After the reprogramming techniques mentioned above major acupuncture point stimulation is employed (LI 4, Ht 7, LI 11, St 36, Sp 6, and L 3), in a circular fashion around the body. Other ANS therapeutics like neural therapy, acupuncture, heavy metal detoxification, psycho-emotional conflict resolution can be added to the AET. 7

8 As described above, we employ the Limbic brain reprogramming techniques of the proper eye movement directional therapy and colored glasses to achieve a Yin state at the end of our therapeutic session. B. After care: There are many options for after-care to reinforce the allergy elimination reprogramming. Dr. Nambrudripad requires that the patient not contact the treated allergen for 25 hours. Using the more profound reprogramming techniques described in this paper, usually reduces or eliminates the need for no allergen contact. However if possible this avoidance is often suggested. Homeopathic remedies of the treated allergens can be prepared to reinforce the (quantum/energetic/frequency) signaling to the ANS for a time after therapy. Frequency copying and inversion machines are available and very useful for these purposes. If foods or nutrients are being cleared a supplementation program should be considered to rebuild the nutrient stores. This is after the nutritional stores may have been chronically depleted due to the allergic stress response to the nutrient, which may have impaired the body s ability for up-take. If there is an immunolocical component to the allergy where antibodies are being produced against the allergen, symptom relief will often not occur until the immune cells are desensitized. This could take up to 6 to9 months. Remember the Immune system appears to be under the control to the ANS, so when the ANS no longer remembers the autonomic stress the signaling to the immune centers ceases and when the immune cells die the allergic symptoms die with it. That is provided the allergic stress response is not recreated. This is where treating the allergy with injectable dilution and AET (if available) together can be very helpful. Allergy Elimination Therapeutics needs to be part of a Comprehensive Integrative Program to Functionally Rehabilitate the ANS and the Organs and Structures of the Body If Allergy Elimination Therapeutics is not part of a comprehensive functional rehabilitation treatment strategy, there is a strong likelihood that the allergies will reform. Dr. Klinghardt has correctly identified allergies in adults and kids as a dysfunction of the ANS. Dys-regulation of the ANS occurs when there are too many ANS stressors creating ANS sensory chaos and the inability of the ANS to properly and consistently regulate and adapt to its functional demand. This dys-regulation to which we refer is a generalized dysautonomia. Therefore a comprehensive program to reduce the ANS stress burden is critical if allergy elimination is to be sustained. Otherwise the same stressors, which created the allergic mal-adaptation, will recreate it again. The major ANS dys-regulators are: 1. Toxic metal overload. Mercury is the most devastating to the ANS but tin, nickel, cadmium, and lead are also very toxic. 8

9 2. Toxic chemical overload. The petrochemicals, solvents, pesticides and chemicals that we are continuously exposed can reach a threshold and overwhelm the ANS. 3. Noxious bio-energies. Geopathic stress from underground (usually water) sources and electromagnetic radiation from the air (usually generated by electricity) can keep the ANS in an over stressed state, especially if the noxious energies are present in the bedroom during rest. 4. Psycho-emotional conflicts that remain unresolved. These can be in our conscious mind where we refer to it as post-traumatic stress disorder. Unresolved psycho-emotional conflicts more commonly are stored in our sub/unconscious mind where substances, events and/or people in our life can be conjuring up ANS distress and therefore depleting our functional (ANS) reserve. 5. Interference Fields (IF) or areas of Focal Disturbances. IF are localized areas of ANS disturbance generated by electrical pathological tissues whose chronic discharge is overwhelming to the sensory ANS. They often additionally contain deposits of toxic metals and chemicals and chronic infestations. These areas of focal disturbance are often in the form of scars, but also include chronically infected organs, like sinuses, tonsils and appendixes, as well as chronic jaw infections- root canal and dead teeth, and jaw cavitations (necrotic and chronic infections in the jawbones). 6. Major structural disturbances like Cranio-mandibular dysfunction have the potential in some people to cause major distortions in the movement of the cranial bones and thus cause a severe ANS stress that causes generalized dys-autonomia. 7. Chronic infestations of virus, bacteria, parasites and fungus can create or perpetuate an ANS distress of such magnitude that it causes generalized ANS dysregulation. 8. Allergies. When allergies cause a total body dys-regulation they are usually foods eaten routinely. Wheat, milk, eggs, corn, and soy are the most common. 9. Chronic immune dysfunction. The immune system, intricately connected to the ANS in every function, can become depleted needing nutritional, herbal and other support. As you will notice, all the nine major stressors of the ANS are chronic issues that the ANS must continually adapt to each day. Eventually these stressors by themselves or in combination become overwhelming to the ANS, creating too much chaos within the system and thus causing generalized ANS dys-function. Assessing and treating these major functional stressors, along with biochemical support, Gastrointestinal detoxification and rehabilitation, organ drainage (support), structural body support and other holistically oriented therapies aimed at functionally rehabilitating the bodily systems to promote self healing are critical for complete recovery from allergy. In our opinion the ideal allergy practice incorporates the assessment and therapeutics of the Environmental Physician with the allergy reprogramming techniques discussed in this paper is a comprehensive integrated functional rehabilitation program. In summary, we reside in a toxic world that unfortunately is becoming worse as we develop new drugs, chemicals, control our environment and food sources from nature, develop more uses and reasons for the noxious bio-energies (of microwave, electromagnetic radiation emitting personal appliances) to affect us. Psycho-emotional stress is 9

10 increasing while our traditional physical and social releases are on the wane. This as we have discussed has an accumulative negative effect on our functional nervous system. Allergy is a reaction to dys-stress threshold. Can it be no wonder that allergy is inflicting our young and old in ever increasing numbers? 10