Allergies......
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Sneezes, wheezes, difficult
breathing or watering eyes are
not uncommon this time of year
when pollens are being bandied
about by the wind. It is worse,

- unfortunately, when the weather

is nice with little rain to wet the

pollen down.

About ten percent of the pop-
ulation has some kind of allergy.
An allergy is according to the
Better Homes and Gardens
Family Medical guide, ‘‘an alter-

ed capacity to react. The thing to

which a person reacts differently
is called an allergen or antigen.
There are hundreds and hun-
dreds of antigens, chiefly
pollens, dusts, foods, medicines

. orother chemicals which cause

allergies.”” (Some people are
allergic to work!) *

To those who do not have
allergies, the condition may
seem trifling, but allergies .can
cause a great deal of discomfort
and sometimes are quite serious.
They should not be ignored or
neglected in hope that they will
disappear. Much can be done to
bring comfort and prevent mat-
ters from becoming worse.

Allergens are inhaled (pollens,
dust, animal dander), eaten, or
come into contact with the skin
(acids, strong alkalis, poison
ivy). One woman appeared to
have become allergic to her hus-
band. When he came home from
work and embraced her, her
nose would begin to tickle, she’d
have a sneezing bout, shortness
of breath and then break out in
hives! Finally it was determined
that she was: only allergic to
horses — her husband had taken
to horseback riding and the reac-
tion was caused by the horse
dander in his clothes. When he
switched to golf the marriage
was back on ‘‘the green’. In
pre-automobile days ‘horse
asthma’ was a common ailment.

Allergic reactions to antigens
usually result in hay fever, bron-
chial asthma, hives, allergic con-
junctivitis (inflamation of the
mucous membrane lining the
eyelid) or gastro-intestinal
allergies. An incubation period

_ precedes symptoms. It is possi-.

ble for the first exposure to an
antigen to take place in the
mother’s womb. Allergies are
‘not inherited but a tendency to
. develop sensitivity to antigens
may be. Usually, allergies show
up before age forty.
', Hayfever is.caused. by pollen

-. or dust. In early. spring there is

"much tree pollen about, and ‘in
the late spring and early sum-

Mer, grass pollen: The pollen of »
-. ayeeds.is more prevalent in. late. -

summer and fall.

Tremendous numbers of
pollen granules are formed in
the male sexual organs of plants.
A few plants are self-pollinating.
Some depend on the bees but
most, especially trees and
grasses depend upon the wind.
Pollen is light and can be carried
long distances on air currents. It
has been found as high as 17,000
feet in the air and as far as 500
miles out at sea. Fungus spores
are also buoyant and airborne.

In the winter, housedust may
be more of a problem than in the
summer. Homes are more closed
up and a furnace is inclined to
stir up the dust. Housedust is no
ordinary dust. It is a fine greyish
powder formed by the aging of :
materials of household articles
and is entirely different than
street or earth dust. It is a factor
in bronchial asthma and hay-
fever.

It is reasonably easy to have
an allergic reaction diagnosed,
but to identify the offending
substance is another matter —
especially in the area of food, It
is somewhat like a detective
story. Dr. Carl Taylor of Ed-
monton said that one way to test
for food allergy is to eat only
raw fruit, then add raw
vegetables, then one at at time,
chicken and other things until a
reaction is noticed. Symptoms
of a reaction may include
cramps or altered heart rate.

Aside from food, skin tests
are used as a means for detecting
some types of allergies. The
first, a “‘scratch’’ test is designed
to detect the presence of an-
tibodies. The other test used is a
“patch” test for the identifica-
tion of substances responsible
for the allergy.

Dr. Taylor says that since the

1940's there has been a 12.7 per-
cent increase in asthma in

children in Alberta. [t is com-
monly believed that industrial
pollution has contributed to
various conditions that may in-
clude allergies. Few studies have
- been done, however.

In Terrace Dr. Pieter Van
Herk has not seen a rise in
allergy-associated maladies in
the time he has practiced here.
He said that in the workplace,

- conditions are actually improv-
‘ing with more sophisticated air
conditioning and antismoking
policies, What noticibly affects
allergy sufferers in this com-
munity are changes in weather
conditions from year to year and
the normal reproductive seasons
of grasses, herbs and trees.

t

Welcome to the family — Debbie Scarborough’s young family have a new sibling, but they won't
have to make room at home. They've adopted a giant spruce tree in Furlong Bay provincial park.
The parks department held an "Adopt-a-tree" hike June 9 and the Scarboroughs agreed to take
a personal interest in this tree, one of a pair at the beginning of Twin Spruce trail, Another forest
giant opposite this one at the trial entrance was adopted by Terrace school teacher John Chen
Wing. Park naturalist James Roop told the adoptive families that they now have responsibllity to
look in on the trees from time to time and ensure that they are healthy and doing well.

Games gossip

Even though the Northern
Winter Games are eight months
away, a lot is going on. Summer
student workers are being hired
to canvas Terrace and Thornhill
during July and August in order

“to find billeting families for

athletes 18 years old and young-
er. They will be working in shifts
to allow them to interview po-
tential hosts in the morning,
afternoon or evening, six days a
week, .

At the beginning of each
week, CFTK will announce the
area of the community that is
being canvassed. If you are go-

ing to’ be away all summer and
- wish to be a host, please call thé |
" games office at 635-1991.

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