Understanding Your Child's Allergies
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One in 5 children visiting a pediatrician has a major allergic disorder. More than 20% of school age children are affected and about 2 million school days are missed each year. Allergy symptoms can cause your child to become tired, irritable, and unhappy, which makes concentration difficult and contributes to poor school performance.
I have allergies. Is that why my child has them?
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If you are allergic, your child has a 25% chance of developing allergies. If both you and your spouse have allergies, the chances increase to 75%.
How do you KNOW IT IS allergies?
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Pollen and mold are the two most common allergens in the air. Some people react to chemicals in the air, but these are a small minority compared to the vast number of people who react to pollen and mold.
The most common reactions include stuffy nose, red or irritated eyes, throat irritation, and cough. These occur FIRST, and usually seasonally, when allergic reactions first begin.
Most people will realize what they are reacting to because there are clearly defined SEASONS when the most common and the most powerful pollens occur. Fall, for example, is RAGWEED season. So, if your child gets a stuffy nose and a low-grade fever (up to 100 degrees) during August or September, chances are your child is having an allergy attack.
If this occurs in December or January, you are getting "Cedar Fever" (at least in Central Texas you are). If your symptoms occur every spring, you are reacting to trees or early grasses. In summer, it's the grass pollen.
You can tell it's allergies because viruses generally last FIVE DAYS, induce a fever MUCH higher than allergy fever, and the mucus from a cold (virus) explodes forward (think of boxes and boxes of Kleenex for a bright red, drippy nose).
Allergy mucus drains down the throat, not out the front. There is much throat clearing (harumph, harumph, etc.). It goes on FOREVER (several weeks or the length of the pollen season). There is often a low-grade fever of up to 100 degrees. Symptoms are often worse at night and many will find themselves "soaking" their bedclothes or pillows during the night.
The fever connected with allergy has been described for three centuries and has many popular names. The two most common are "Hay Fever" and "Cedar Fever."
Most people first experience allergy symptoms during one season. As the years go by, they experience symptoms in two seasons. Eventually the person will become so sensitive that they will react all year round. It's time to call the allergist!
Probably even more common than pollen allergy is mold allergy. While pollen affects people seasonally, mold affects us every night with little regard to seasons. Pollen is released during the hottest part of the day so that the thermals can carry the pollen far and wide. Mold goes off (a process called "sporulation" as opposed to pollens' "pollination") during the night. Mold cannot tolerate sunlight so the most efficient mold will “go off” at the darkest time of the night.
The highest mold counts occur in our homes around 2:00 AM when spores begin to blow out of our air-conditioning systems and spread throughout the house. I first react with swelling in my mucus membrane (my nose stops up), followed by the release of my emergency allergy hormone... ADRENALIN.
As a result many of us who are sensitive to mold will find ourselves waking up about 3:00 AM, wondering why we are awake. I head to the bathroom... then I realize that THAT wasn't enough to wake me up... and that I cannot breathe out of one side of my nose.
That is what mold typically does to us. The symptoms you get when you first go to bed, the symptoms you have during the night, and the symptoms that persist into the morning when you first get up, are caused by mold allergy.
How do you manage allergies?
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Good management includes prevention (such as controlling allergens in the home) and treatment when necessary (such as a prescription medication to relieve year-round indoor and outdoor allergies.) When children feel good, it's easier for them to give their all at school or at play.
The most successful allergy and asthma patients are those who recognize their triggers and avoid them. Considerable evidence suggests that allergy and asthma are caused, at least in some part, by molds. If no other triggers have been identified, or if you are controlling known triggers and still have problems, consider molds, even if your allergist found no sensitivity to molds. Common airborne molds are the most often tested for, and the most difficult, because they cannot be controlled. The usual recommended treatment is to stay in a well-filtered air-conditioned, dry location. However, there are thousands of mold species including the all too common mutants, far too many to be included in standard allergy testing. All molds have a need for something to grow on, a nutrient. The dust in your air-conditioning system will work fine.
The air in your house is recirculated continuously and is contaminated by dust, dust mites, animal dander, fibers, fumes, cleaning chemicals, bacteria and mold spores. Through using the BON-AIRE ALLERGEN allergy filter in the heating/cooling/ventilating system in your home, you substantially reduce the number of pollutants/allergens in recirculated air. This is the fastest, most effective way to change the whole environment inside your home.
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• Sneezing often accompanied by a runny or clogged nose
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• Coughing and postnasal drip
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• Itching eyes, nose, and throat
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• Allergic shiners (dark circles under the eyes caused by increased blood flow near the sinuses)
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• The "allergic salute" (in a child, persistent upward rubbing of the nose that causes a crease mark on the nose)
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• Watering eyes
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• Conjunctivitis (an inflammation of the membrane that lines the eyelids, causing red-rimmed, swollen eyes, and crusting of the eyelids).
Allergy prevention can begin very early in life. New babies should be protected from exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, airborne pollutants, and indoor allergens such as dust mites and mold. Exposure to animal dander should be avoided. Exposure to "high-risk" foods such as milk products, eggs, and nuts should be delayed until the baby is at least 1 year old.
Most molds have in common the need for moderate to high humidity 70-80 DEGREES and needs dark. You never see mold growing on bright, sun-lit surfaces. Mold also likes:
1.Dampness. Had any leaks lately? Ever?
2.Dusty or musty papers, cardboard, carpet, upholstered furniture and bedding.
3.Damp wood, such as house framing wet from rain during construction, or for that matter, before the construction even began. Use kiln-dried lumber if you are building.
4.Air-conditioner insulation, coils, and drain pans, even in furnaces and automobiles. Poor filters can even grow mold. Leaks anywhere in the system are sure-fire mold growers.
5.Drain pans under frost free refrigerators. Clogged drain pans in air systems frequently result in leaks into walls and adjacent areas.
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| Recommended for mild to moderate allergies and asthma. Severe allergy and asthma sufferers may obtain more relief with the Bon-Aire PURASORB 3-stage filter that adsorbs and controls airborne gasses (odors from cleaning and other fumes) and VOC's. | |||
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Special Sizes (Inches) Multiply Width X Length X Depth X .0364
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Contact us for volume discounts (minimum of 12). Mixed sizes available. Special Sizes available priced per square inch. MONEY BACK GUARANTEE If you are not fully satisfied with your BON-AIRE ALLLERGEN filter, return the used filter to Bon-Aire Filters, Inc. within 60 days of purchase and we will credit your card or refund your money. |
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