Noses running. Eyes watering. Throats itching. Lungs coughing. Sinuses aching. Allergies reborn. Misery renewed. Once again. One more year. Spring.

Allergies and asthma. Very big problems for a whole lot of people.

How big a problem? Annually, $7.9 billion treating allergies alone. Asthma? $18 billion. The average cost per asthma sufferer? $4,900 each year.

How many people? More than 50 million allergy-sufferers nationwide. Asthmatics? 10 million. Work days missed each year? 24.5 million. School days missed? 14.7 Million. The two leading causes of work absenteeism every year? You guessed it: Allergies and asthma.

What’s going on here? Why all the suffering? Was it always this way?

To a certain degree, yes. Allergies aren’t new, but they’re getting worse. The reason? No one knows for certain. Lots of theories, though. Pollution. Environmental toxins. Childhood vaccinations. Even our compulsion for cleanliness can play a role.

The truth? Anything that affects the immune system can be a part of the problem. Why? Because allergies represent an abnormal, over-reactive immune response.

It’s when we understand that that we can actually approach allergy treatment functionally.

Effective treatment of any disease starts by understanding what’s not working right, what’s the true “root cause”. For allergies, it’s a misfiring immune system. How best to treat it? The answer is NOT by simply suppressing symptoms. The best answer? Avoidance – avoid whatever it is that’s triggering your symptoms. Next best? Boost your immune system. Can you really do that? Absolutely. Check out this week’s tweets for specifics.

Lots of questions. With “fibro,” the questions are easy. It’s the answers that are tough.

First, is it real? That one’s easy: Absolutely it’s real! To the 5 million fibro sufferers in America, it’s an insulting question. End of discussion.

But what is it, precisely? And what causes it? Okay, that’s more difficult. While we can describe it, and while the diagnostic criteria are clearly defined, there’s no real test for it. Blood tests, X-Rays, CT-scans, and MRIs are of no help whatsoever.

But still, what is it? Basically, it’s a disease of chronic pain. Muscle pain. Aching pain. With very specific tender points, symmetric, affecting both sides of the body. And often associated with chronic fatigue, depression, anxiety, IBS, and headaches. Sound like fun? Not at all.

The cause? Again a mystery. The two prevailing schools of thought are as follows. On theory is that fibro involves increased sensitivity to pain, that somehow the nerves carrying pain signals to the brain are over-stimulated and hyper-sensitive.

The second theory is that fibro at its core is a problem of something called “mitochondrial dysfunction.” Big help, right? What that means is this: it’s a problem of energy production. The theory here is that the body’s ability to make energy (in the form of a tiny molecule called ATP) has been severely impaired.

Lastly, what can I do if I have it? Again, that’s a tough one. Conventional medicine has little to offer. But there IS hope. Often specific nutritional deficiencies, hormone imbalances, inflammation, and/or toxicity are part of the pain-energy production problem. And those can be tested, and measured, and corrected. Functional Medicine has A LOT to offer.

Others say it all started much earlier, and innocently, even patriotically enough, during World War II. In the Pacific theatre and elsewhere, America’s sons and brothers were dying as much of insect-borne disease as they were of enemy bullets. There and then was born the first pesticide. A good idea? Hard to argue. Saved countless GI lives. A good idea now gone bad? Equally hard to argue today. The suspected cause of much disease and premature death.

This September 27, 2012, marks the 50th anniversary of Rachel Carson’s eye-opening work, Silent Spring. Born in the eerie quiet of April mornings normally graced with birdsong, Carson’s early alarm rings louder today than ever before. Or should.

Oddly, few notice.

We are, each of us, you and I, literally swimming in toxic soup. Every day of very year of our lives. We breathe them in, and drink them in, and consume them with practically every bite we take. Now, 70 years after they first appeared, billions of pounds of hundreds of poisons now saturate every square inch of soil and every cubic millimeter of air and water the world over.

Is there hope? Yes.

Learn more. Educate yourself. Protect yourself. Cleanse yourself.

Five things to avoid or limit:

1. All processed foods.
2. Simple sugars, including starches (breads, pastas, chips, crackers, cereals, pastries, candy)
3. Trans fats, hydrogenated and partly hydrogenated oils.
4. Excess caffeine and alcohol.
5. Food additives, preservatives, and artificial sweeteners.

Five things to eat daily:

1. Whole, fresh foods. Try them raw.
2. Brightly colored vegetables.
3. Healthy fats.
4. Protein.
5. Water.

Next: Exercise. Not vigorously. Overly intense exercise can actually INCREASE stress and make matters worse. Moderate will do just fine. Walking 30 minutes a day four days a week can do wonders.

Next: Supplement as needed. But remember: supplements are only, well, supplemental. They don’t replace healthy nutrition. A good multivitamin is always the best place to start. Beyond this, specific vitamins, minerals, and select herbals like Ashwaganda, Siberian ginseng, and Rhodiola can play a big part in supporting your body’s ability to manage stress on a physiological basis.

Lastly, but not at all least important: Learn stress management techniques. Learn how to relax. Educate yourself. Try prayer. Try meditation. Try yoga. Try Pilates. Visit a bookstore, if you can still find one. Surf the web. The Mayo Clinic has a great site: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/relaxation-technique/SR00007.

And that’s enough about stress. At least for this week. Thanks for reading.

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So what are our options? What can we do?

Actually, lots. Most importantly and fundamentally, we need to take steps to lower our exposure to stress in the first place. In today’s hectic, demanding culture, that’s very difficult. We have constant demands upon our time. Cell phones allow the world 24/7 access to our lives. We desire to succeed, accumulate, “keep up with the Joneses,” or simply keep our jobs. Still, it’s very important, crucial even, to step back, take stock, and see what changes you can make. What steps can you take to reduce stress, not just today, but every day? Sometimes working with an objective outsider can help with this process. Counseling has a lot to offer on this front.

Beyond this, though, what can we do?

First thing: Sleep. Get adequate sleep. Aim for 7-8 hours each night.

Second: Healthy nutrition. What you eat really does affect your ability to handle stress on a molecular level. For more tips on how to handle stress, or more on stress in general, read on.

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In response to stress, the body increases the production of cortisol. It’s been called our “stress hormone.” In short bursts, that’s a good thing.

In the long term, though, high cortisol leads to such problems as immune dysfunction and increased risk of illness, cancer, and debilitating auto-immune diseases. It leads to high blood-sugar levels, increasing the risk of diabetes, obesity, heart attack, and stroke. It shrinks an area in the brain called the hippocampus, crucial for memory, increasing the risk of Alzheimers.

In the very long term, the body loses the ability to make cortisol, a condition called “Adrenal Fatigue.” The symptoms: chronic fatigue, sleep difficulties, concentration problems, depression, anxiety, irritability, mood swings, sluggishness, headaches, weakness, muscle wasting, low libido, and more. None of it good.

Clearly stress is not just “in your head.” It’s everywhere in your body. It does something, lots of things, lots of bad things. Don’t let anyone tell you, “Oh, it’s just stress.”

But what to do? Is there hope?

Yes, in fact, there is.

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It’s not just an epidemic; it’s a pandemic!

But what is stress, anyway? Depends on how you look at it. Technically defined, stress is “a state of threatened or perceived threatened homeostasis.” And homeostasis? It’s our ability to adapt and maintain stability in response to external events or forces challenging that stability.

Defined psychologically, stress occurs when one is forced by circumstance (e.g., job demands) to function outside one’s comfort zone (as when an introvert is called upon to interact with lots of people on a regular basis). Alternatively, it’s been described as what happens when one is given responsibility without corresponding authority.

However it’s defined, stress is real. It’s not just “in your head.” It does something. It triggers a complex response mechanism that helps us cope with a difficult situation.

In the short term that’s a very good thing. Suddenly facing a tiger in the jungle, the stress response (“fight or flight”) comes in pretty handy. Having the capacity to DO something, quickly, is a matter of life and death. Getting a surge of adrenalin STAT (part of the acute stress response) is pretty important in the moment.

In the long term, however, it’s a different story. In the long term, chronic stress causes problems, very serious health problems.

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• 24% of adults report always feeling tired.
• More than 25 million Americans have severe fatigue, lasting at least one month, at any given time.
• The estimated annual cost per patient for fatigue-related problems is $2,300 to $8,700.
• For society, it’s $2 – 7 BILLION!!!

Have you ever wondered?

• Where did my get up and go … go?
• When is fatigue normal? Abnormal?
• When should I be worried?
• As I get older, shouldn’t I expect to feel more tired?
• What causes abnormal, chronic fatigue?

Let’s tackle that last one. The answer, of course, is that there are LOTS of possible causes.

Some are well known and obvious: sleep disorders, thyroid abnormalities, anemia, depression, medication side effect, excessive exercise, being out of shape.

Others causes are less well-known, less obvious: Adrenal Fatigue, Sex Hormone Imbalances, Chronic Infection, Inflammation, Obesity, Nutritional Deficiencies, Toxicities, Immune Dysfunction, Allergies, Food Hypersensitivities, Mitochondrial Dysfunction.

What’s that last one? Mitochondrial Dysfunction? What is that, anyway? Here’s what it is. Every cell of your body contains within it little energy factories called mitochondria. The energy they make? ATP: a very specific molecule that serves as the “gasoline” for the human body. Here’s the issue: If you can’t make sufficient ATP, you’ll ALWAYS be tired. No gas. No go.

It’s all so very complex; how do we sort it all out? Actually, that may be easier than you think. For all of these possibilities, we can test. We can uncover the “root cause.” And then fix it. Naturally.

Let’s tackle this one first: Is it real? Absolutely!!! Any parent raising a child with ADHD knows it’s real. Knows it’s a ludicrous question. Has every right to be offended by the very asking.

So, yes, ADHD is real. Very real.

Next: Is there hope? Again, absolutely. Many parents are initially hesitant to accept the idea that their child may have ADHD. Once they acknowledge the possibility, most are reluctant to venture into the realm of medication. Surely something else can work, can help, can offer relief.

Can it?

While Conventional Medicine’s reflexive answer to ADHD is controlled-substance stimulant medication, it must be known that that’s NOT the only answer. While Conventional Medicine consistently claims there’s no evidence for the effectiveness of alternative approaches, that’s simply not true.

Functional Medicine, recognizing that everyone is unique and responds uniquely to various therapies, has much to offer. Specific nutritional measures help a great many ADHD suffers. Select supplements help others. Identifying and eliminating toxic exposures can be beneficial. Effective counseling and support can produce tremendous results.

Want to learn more? Click here.