EMS and Allergies

Question 2: Do you suffer from any allergies now? ("Now" defined as between Jan. 31 and Feb. 12, 2003)


YES: 20 persons of 25: 80% (including one of four male respondents)

NO: 5 persons of 25: 20% (including three of the four male respondents)

Question 3: If you have allergies now, would you say that they are Worse, Better or About the Same? Or if you are Unsure, choose that reply, or write in your own reply. {For those not giving an answer, I have used "No Answer Given" and for those denying having allergies, I have used "Not Applicable."}


WORSE: 7 persons of 25: 28% (all female respondents)

BETTER: 2 persons of 25: 8% (including the one male with allergies)

ABOUT THE SAME: 10 persons of 25: 40%

UNSURE; NO ANSWER GIVEN; or NOT APPLICABLE: 6 persons of 25: 24% (Of these, one person did not answer the question; one person chose "unsure"; and four persons denied having allergies now, so I have included them under the response "Not Applicable."

Question 4: Please list all or some of the pollens, foods, drugs, etc., to which you are allergic.

Some persons denied having allergies. Others are allergic to multiple things, and many listed two to five things to which they are allergic. Obviously, some have had allergy testing while others have not had allergy testing.

What Each Respondent Listed (who made a list or wrote a hunch in a paragraph format):


#1: Codeine, various grass pollens, Mimosa pollen, house dust, and hay

#2: Horse-serum Tetanus, codeine, cats, and dust mites

#3: Zoloft and Paxil (anti-depressants)

#4: Dust mites, smoke, perfume, strong scented cleaning products, some soaps, bandages, exposure to the sun, camelias, ragweed, yellow dye #5 and sulfates, Japanese tree lilacs, Linden tree pollen, some cats, rabbits, birds, feathers, Sulfa, aspirin

#5: Novocaine, Xylocaine and most numbing agents, Penicillin, mold, cats, some dogs, most antibiotics, many different anti-depressants, Toradol (anti-inflammatory used for pain), and problems taking many prescribed drugs

#6: Cleaning products, mold, pine pollen, something outside when seasons change (has developed asthma post-EMS)

#7: Dust, dust mites, and mold

#8: Pollen, dust, mold, and extreme sensitivity to perfume, smoke, and scented products

#9: Mostly pollens (unknown); maybe mold and/or dust mites

#10: Penicillin, Codeine, Norfloxacin, Erythromycin, Naproxen, a lot of anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxants, Fentanyl, dust mites, horses, cats, dogs, any animal with fur or feathers

#11: Mold, dust mites; could be more

#12: Cats, dogs, Sulfa, house dust, molds, wool, marsh elder (weed), dog fennel (weed)

#13: Dust mites, I suspect

#14: Grass, tree pollens, molds, cats, Hypaque Sodium Dye, Percocet, Dilaudid, Talwin, and Demerol

#15: Allergies in summer to unknown pollens

#16: Mold, mildew, grass, tree pollens, dust, chemicals, hand and body soaps, perfumes, shampoos, any chemicals sprayed on foods for freshness etc., about anything except pure organically grown food

#17: Tegretol, Clinoril, no milk but skim milk

#18: Elm tree pollen and probably other tree pollens, ragweed, English plaintain, Bermuda grass and probably other grasses, house and industrial dust, dust mites, milk (casein in milk), gerbils, wool, feathers, cockroaches, Prevacid, Sulfa, Erythromycin, perfumes, cigarette smoke, some soaps and aftershaves, certain chemicals in cleaning agents

#19: Dust and mold

#20: A few unknown - unchanged since EMS

Five persons either answered NONE or didn't answer because they do not have allergies now. All of those who denied having allergies now also denied having allergies pre-EMS. (three males and two females)

CONCLUSIONS & COMPARISONS

How many people in the general population have allergies?

Excerpt from article: Allergies

"Study Finds 38 Percent of Americans Have Allergies


Nov. 14, 1999 - Reuters About 38 percent of Americans suffer from allergies, twice as many as experts had previously thought, and many are not aware of all available treatments such as allergy shots, according to a new survey.The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, which commissioned the survey, was surprised by the findings...."

The article says that previously it had been thought that 10% to 20% of the American public suffers from allergies, so this study came as a surprise which found up to 38% have allergies.

60% of responding EMS patients reported having allergies pre-EMS and 80% now. That is a rather significant finding even in an informal poll, I think.

We know that many more women than men got EMS. Maybe more women used L-tryptophan than did men, or used it more regularly, making exposure to toxins more likely in female users. We also know that women, generally speaking, get autoimmune disorders more frequently than do men. Is it possible that this could have played into making women more prone to getting EMS - besides usage? Only one of four men responding to this poll reported allergies - the rest denied them -and rather emphatically I might say (that is, clearly). So do men with EMS have fewer allergies? The total number of respondents in this small poll don't really allow for definite conclusions. However, 19 of 21 women responding reported allergies, either pre- or post-EMS, a rather significant finding. Is it possible that even though men with EMS may not have had as much allergic disease pre-EMS, that nevertheless their immune systems were somehow "primed" to get a disorder like EMS; that is, just as fewer men get autoimmune disorders like lupus than do women, maybe some men when exposed to toxins or substances which affect the immune response are more susceptible than other men even in the absence of prior allergic disease?

Has EMS itself caused some persons who were more allergic or even didn't have known allergies pre-EMS to become more allergic post-EMS? Many persons with EMS report sensitivities/allergies to foods, drugs, odors, chemicals, etc. Once a person has one allergy, I believe it is generally true that they are likely to develop others. Allergists have said that it's not generally wise to move to a different part of the country in an effort to "escape" an offending allergen because the allergic person will likely develop allergies to something else where they move. Allergies change over time. I know this because I have had allergies for many years. They can be worse some years, better other years depending on many factors, such as weather conditions and strength of the immune system. Some allergies are outgrown, but others may develop even later in life. However, generally, allergies tend to become milder, doctors say, in middle age and up.

Do persons with EMS have some dysfunction of their immune system that could cause them to be more vulnerable to developing allergies and autoimmune reactions/diseases? I believe I've heard it said that women have stronger immune systems than men and this might account for the higher incidence of immune system diseases like lupus or RA. Could men with EMS actually have stronger immune system [reactions] also - that react more like those of women?

I am not a doctor. One person suggested I write some conclusions or thoughts. I've done that. Please consult a physician for your own situation.