Тартразин
Если у человека астма, то знайте, что тартразин – ещё одна пищевая добавка, которую также следует остерегаться. Он имеет и ещё одно название – «жёлтый пищевой краситель № 5». Это вещество можно обнаружить во множестве продуктов, включая безалкогольные напитки, кондитерские изделия и даже некоторые медикаменты. Тартразин способен вызвать приступ астмы и особенно опасен для людей, аллергичных к аспирину.
Если вы чувствуете, что восприимчивы к тартразину, то обязательно читайте наклейки на продуктах и напитках. В случае, если на этикетке не указаны ингредиенты, не рискуйте, ведь речь идёт о здоровье. Одним словом, обязательно следите за тем, что попадает на ваш стол.

When she grew up and married, her problems increased. There was a marked intensification of all symptoms in the fall of 1947 when she painted a large apartment, having used paint and varnish removers freely in addition to being exposed to paint odors over a two-week period. Thereafter interminable colds, nasal stuffiness, and intermittent bouts of bronchitis were attributed to an unknown virus. She became acutely ill each time that she attempted to eat cherries and certain other fruits. Since she enjoyed pottery, she enrolled in a pottery class which was held in a poorly ventilated large room which also contained a gas-fired kiln and which was contaminated by fumes from painting, silk screening, and other art work. These exposures brought on attacks of asthma and were discontinued after two weeks. In the late 1940s she suffered constant attacks of «influenza,» headache, nausea, and vomiting. She found that she could feel better by not eating at all and staying outdoors as much as possible. She lost 25 pounds in a single month and weighed only 85 pounds at one time. Various doctors prescribed one medication after another, but each seemed to make her more sick than the last one. The top of her dresser came to resemble a pharmacist’s counter. She took to drying her hair by the heat of her gas-fired oven, which helped to clear her asthma temporarily but was inevitably followed by severe headache, fatigue, depression, and, sometimes, loss of consciousness. Immediately prior to such acute episodes, her cheeks would turn fiery red, she would stagger around the room, bumping into the furniture. She was living in Arizona by this time, a state to which she had moved on the advice of her physicians. Initially, she felt much better, as long as she remained outdoors. But she was always worse on rainy days; this was attributed to the lack of exposure to Arizona sunshine, instead of to exposures when in her home. With the onset of colder weather in the fall, she became increasingly asthmatic, hyperactive, and confused with episodes of extreme hyperactivity and loss of consciousness.

Because of this strange behavior, her husband and doctor concluded that Mrs. Sanders was a drug addict, and that heroin or some such narcotic was responsible for her behavior. Her husband went so far as to beat her, trying to extract from this terrified woman the location of her «stash.» This interpretation was supported by the fact that she improved when taken to a hospital, only to worsen immediately upon again returning to her home. Finally, her husband and her physician made plans to admit her to a mental institution.

Mrs. Sanders’ brother was a physician who suspected that her illness might be in some way allergy-related. He brought her to me for treatment immediately before she was scheduled to be institutionalized. Upon entering an apartment the first night in Chicago, her brother lighted the gas range to prepare dinner. She immediately complained of the odor of gas, her face became red, her eyes crossed, and she was barely able to speak. Her brother called me in alarm, to explain what was happening to his sister. Suspecting some environmental exposure, I instructed him to remove her immediately. Fortunately, she was taken to a friend’s all-electric apartment. By this time, her head was drawn to one side in a wry neck reaction (acute torticollis), she was confused, disoriented, and slumped into a semi-conscious stupor. This was interrupted by periods of uncontrollable twitching of muscles and flailing of all limbs so violently that she had to be physically restrained. She remained unconscious with intermittent seizures for the following six hours. In a similar attack a few months later, also followed by accidental exposure to gas, she was seen by a neurologist, who diagnosed her condition in these words: «Impression: cataleptic attack. I would strongly suspect hysteria.»

Extensive testing, however, revealed that Ellen Sanders, like Nora Barnes, was highly susceptible to chemical environmental exposures. In particular, she was exquisitely sensitive to utility gas exposures. In retrospect, many of her previous problems, from the time that she dropped plates as a child to her most recent attacks, could be traced to gas exposures. However, she was also highly susceptible to many other environmental chemicals, especially pesticide sprays on foods, aerial spraying for mosquito abatement, automotive exhausts, and many others. Next to the effects of utility gas, pesticide exposures were the most troublesome. As little as half a commercially sprayed peach would induce «drunkenness,» followed by loss of consciousness. But if she ate only so-called «organic» food and avoided chemical exposures, she remained well.

Occasionally, however, during the past 25 years she has had accidentally induced acute reactions of the type described. Upon one occasion, she was accidentally exposed to pesticides when the outside of her apartment was sprayed to control an infestation of spiders. Within minutes after these fumes entered her apartment through an air conditioner, she again lapsed into unconsciousness temporarily. Severe chest pain persisted for several weeks before subsiding. This has happened on a few rther occasions, although electrocardiograms, even after exercise, failed to show any abnormalities. More recently, both exposures to airborne pesticides and automotive exhausts have precipitated bouts of heart irregularity persisting for several hours. Other than for these intermittent exposures, she remains in good general health while following her environmentally restricted medical program.

These two cases opened up the field of chemical susceptibility. Although they are extreme instances, they are hardly unique. An increasing percentage of my patients have this chemical susceptibility problem to varying degrees. Some are aware that they cannot tolerate synthetic substances or combustion products. Others are sick, but do not yet realize why.

To recognize this problem is not to oppose progress. But we must distinguish between what is merely new and what is truly progressive. Since the mid-nineteenth century chemistry has revolutionized modern life. The United States alone produces over 500 billion pounds of chemicals per year. There are now about four million chemicals in the computer register of the Chemical Abstract Service. About 33,000 of these are in common use in the United States,2 and many of these ultimately find their way into our bodies. What are the health effects of these chemicals individually or, more importantly, cumulatively? Despite the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976, very few of these chemicals have been adequately tested before being introduced into the marketplace.

In the last thirty years copious evidence has accumulated that these chemicals can indeed cause serious health problems for workers and consumers. There are many Nora Barnses and Ellen Sanderses walking around or dragging themselves from one doctor’s office to another.

As with the case of food, a constructive criticism of the chemical industry is sometimes taken as a threat to profit and unreasonably opposed. At the present time, the chemical companies are spending many millions of dollars to convince the public that their products are safe and indispensable. This money would be better spent investigating the actual damage that uncontrolled chemical contamination does and in devising ways to control it.

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These drugs are usually taken by mouth. They can also be given as suppositories, inserted before going to bed, for those who suffer from early-morning attacks of asthma. They make the bronchial muscles relax by working inside the cells, whereas the 32 agonists work outside the cell. The two different types of drugs therefore have complementary effects, and using both can be helpful for some patients. Theophylline is combined with a sympathomimetic, ephedrine, in Franol and Tedral.

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The restrictions imposed by the rotation diet are quite harsh – not only are foods disallowed, but particular foods have to be eaten on particular days. An occasional departure from the regime is acceptable, but even with such allowances, eating away from home is very difficult indeed, and many social events become impossible. Some doctors recommend rotation diets to almost anyone recovering from food sensitivity, but the costs have to be weighed against the benefits. Loneliness and isolation can be as damaging to the health as eating the wrong sort of food.

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The plan is outlined briefly in this section. You should try each stage of the plan in turn, and only go on to the next stage if you are no better. The vast majority of readers will probably not need to go beyond Stage 1 or 2. The main advantage of this three-stage approach is that it should not involve you in giving up any food unnecessarily, and if you have a simple problem – such as taking too much caffeine – it will lead you to it simply and quickly. There is little point spending a week eating nothing but lamb and pears when all you really needed to do was give up coffee or cut out milk.

Stage 1 of the plan is a one-month healthy eating programme. During this stage, the foods and drinks that have a drug-like action on the body are eliminated, namely coffee, tea, cola-drinks, cocoa, chocolate and all forms of alcohol. The unpleasant (and often unsuspected) effects of caffeine. Sugar and sugary foods are also excluded, because these can cause problems in some people, by making their blood-sugar levels go up and down wildly (see pl30). Finally, histamine-rich foods and all types of additives are excluded, since these are sometimes a source of problems.

If you get better during this first stage then you have got off very lightly, because you have not had to cut out any foods, in the strict sense of the word. Even if you do not recover at this stage, there are still substantial advantages. If you are food-sensitive, the withdrawal symptoms that occur when you cut out the offending foods can be pretty grim (see pl04). Suddenly cutting out caffeine, alcohol and sugar at the same time is just plain masochistic – it makes much more sense to kick these habits first.

You may also discover that you can feel partially better by just eating healthily and avoiding everyday ‘drugs’. This information could be useful later, when you have to decide how to cope with your food sensitivities – you will know how much of your illness is due to food and how much is due to other items.

Stage 2 of the programme is a simple form of elimination diet that just excludes the most common offending foods – this is the least rigorous form of exclusion phase. Most people will probably find the answers to their problems here.

Stage 3 of the programme is a more drastic form of elimination diet, designed to detect those with sensitivities to many different foods. The exact form of this exclusion phase can vary to suit individual needs – we suggest either a few-foods diet or a rare-foods diet, or a combination of the two.

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Bottle-fed babies

If your baby is being fed with cow’s milk or cow’s-milk formula feed, and you suspect that this may be the cause of the symptoms, then ask the doctor to prescribe a ‘milk-free’ formula. These are of three types: soya-based formula, such as Wysoy, Formula S, Prosobee or Isomil, comminuted chicken formula such as Chix, and hydrolysed formula or hydrolysate, such as Pregestimil or Nutramigen. The hydrolysates are made up of cow’s milk, cornstarch and other foods, but treated with digestive enzymes so that the milk proteins are partially broken down. This makes them a great deal less allergenic, although they still cause problems in some children who are highly sensitive to cow’s milk.

Do not expect instant results, especially if the baby has diarrhoea or colic -it may take up to two weeks for the baby’s digestive system to return to normal. If there is no improvement, discuss the situation with the doctor, and consider trying another type of ‘milk-free’ formula – it may be that one works for your baby while another does not.

In general, there is evidence that children who have developed a sensitivity7 to cow’s milk may become sensitive to soya proteins as well, if they consume them in large quantities. For a young baby who has several more months of formula to come, the hydrolysates are probably a better choice than soya formulas, therefore.

Should the baby recover on one of these alternative formulas, then cow’s milk formula should be tested about a month later, to see what effect it has. It may be that the switch to an alternative formula happened to coincide with a spontaneous recovery. Or the sensitivity to cow’s-milk could have cleared up thanks to a month of avoidance. Either way, the baby can now return to cow’s milk formula.

For babies who seem to react badly to all the different formula feeds, the possibility of some other cause, such as an infection, should be reconsidered. If all such causes have been ruled out, and there is strong evidence for food sensitivity being at the root of the problem, then breast milk is the best solution. Enquire about the possibility of donated breast milk from a milk bank -you may be fortunate enough to live in an area where such a bank has been established. Alternatively there is relactation – returning to breast-feeding. This is not possible for everyone, and it is not something to be undertaken lightly, but it may be the only answer for some babies. Help can be obtained from breast-feeding advisory groups. Mothers who choose this course of action should not drink cow’s milk themselves, nor should they eat butter, cheese, yoghurt or soya.

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The prostaglandins produced in the aftermath of a mast-cell reaction are responsible for keeping up the attack on the invader. So it is no coincidence that they have a similar effect on the body to histamine: they make smooth muscles contract and promote inflammation. They produce the ‘late phase’ reactions seen in allergic individuals, which are considered in more detail on p42.

Mast-cell reactions are not the only source of prostaglandins in the body, and these ubiquitous messengers also play a role in diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (see pll9). Prostaglandins can be made by almost any body cell. Indeed, they are made all the time, and constantly destroyed before they can have any effect (a common type of control mechanism in living organisms). The effect of the macrophages, attracted by the mast cells, is simply to boost production of prostaglandins so that they are made faster than they are destroyed. Several other types of cell can boost prostaglandin manufacture in the same way.

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Remember the load effect. Managing your load of chemicals is an important element in keeping yourself well and on an even keel. If you overload yourself with chemicals that make demands on your system, you may find that you are more prone to react to the chemicals that particularly upset you, or that you feel generally less well. Reduce your load as far as you can. Most people find that they reach an acceptable compromise by:

• reducing generally the level of chemical exposure in their lives

• avoiding their own particular troublemakers

No one person’s metabolism is the same as another’s – chemical sensitivity is very idiosyncratic; while you might be able to tolerate mild amounts of certain chemicals, other people with chemical sensitivity might not tolerate those particular ones at all (and vice versa).

Work out for yourself what you want to use and what you can tolerate. If your system can tolerate plastic bags and cosmetics, for instance, and it is important to you to use them, then go ahead. But listen to your body. If, for instance, you really do get very ill when the gas fire is on, or when you read a newspaper, do not fool yourself, and be prepared to stop doing things, or to cut down on them. Manage your load and you may find that you can do many things in moderation.

Clearing chemicals out of your home can give you a springboard for coping with life. If you do this, it can give you the tolerance to deal with the load of chemicals you meet outside your home. Treat it as a resource where you can go to clean out, rather than a refuge to hide from the world.

If you do not have the energy or money to sort out all or most of your home, or if you have a difficult domestic situation and friction with family or housemates, a good option is to create an oasis in your own bedroom, the place where you clean out.

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One alternative is to use Bona Kemi Pacific Strong Floor Seal (available to order through the trade), a two-part sealer which works by chemical reaction at the time of application and does not give off persistent fumes. It protects fully against grease and water and can be applied in heavy use areas.

Another option is to use water-based acrylic varnishes such as Cuprinol Enhance and Ronseal Solvent-Free Varnish, available in DIY shops. These give off mild fumes on use and shortly after, but pose no problem long term. These are solvent-free, dry very fast and brushes clean off with water.

Water-based varnishes like these do not protect fully against water spills, grease or fat, even with several coats, and they do not wear well on heavy use. They are thus not really suitable for floors in kitchens, bathrooms, stairs, or entrances; or for work surfaces or furniture that get splashed.

One solution for these areas is to use Bona Kemi Pacific Strong Floor Seal, as above. Another option is to apply one or two coats of polyurethane varnish to give water and greaseproofing, and then use a water-based varnish for the final coats. This keeps fumes under control.

For exterior wood, Ronseal Fencelife and Cuprinol Garden Timber Care, water-based acrylic wood treatments, can be used as sealants.

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A baby’s digestive system is immature. It is more permeable and allows more molecules to leak into the bloodstream than an adult’s would, potentially to cause reactions. As the baby matures, so the gut matures and becomes more able to cope with substances other than that for which it is best designed – breastmilk. Colostrum, which the baby takes from the breast in the first days before the milk comes in, is particularly important in helping the baby’s gut to function, so even if you only manage to breastfeed a newborn baby for no more than a few days, you will already have done something to help.

Even just one supplementary feed with infant formula can be sufficient to make a baby sensitive, and, although it can be hard sometimes to sustain breastfeeding for as long as you wish, every extra day that it can be managed will count. Keep up the milk supply as long as you can, and avoid giving supplementary bottlefeeds if possible.

Breastfeeding is not always possible or easy – sometimes because of the baby’s or mother’s indisposition, because the mother has to return to a job, or for reasons of technique. A further argument in favour of breastfeeding is that breastmilk contains antibodies which protect the baby’s system against bacteria and viruses, and especially against diarrhoea and gastric upsets. A bout of diarrhoea in a young baby often disturbs the balance of the gut lining and makes it more permeable, so that allergy or intolerance can develop more easily from molecules passing into the bloodstream. Breastfeeding, by reducing gut infections, helps the digestive system to protect itself against food sensitivity.

Although there are many arguments in favour of breastfeeding, it is not totally free of problems, in that molecules from foods eaten by the mother can pass in tiny quantities through breastmilk, and babies can react if they are sensitive to those foods.

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