Allergic Reactions:
Is Your Immune System in Overdrive?

Most of us have had allergic reactions at one time or another to some substance. Perhaps when ragweed blooms, you sneeze like crazy. Or maybe you break out in a rash when you eat pecans.

Maybe a certain kind of laundry detergent causes your clothing to irritate your skin - and your back becomes red and itchy.

Do you have an allergic reaction to bee stings? In some people, the reaction can be so severe as to cause their throats to close off from the swelling. A speedy trip to the emergency room will be necessary unless you have something at home that can stop the reaction.

Allergic reactions can take many different forms. Although your body's response may be completely different than your friend's reaction, the root cause is the same.

Excess Histamine

Have you ever taken an anit-histamine medication when you had a miserable cold?

If you have, then you probably know that the purpose behind it is to calm down the release of histamine so that your symptoms of swelling will disappear - like that stuffy nose, and swollen throat, etc.

When your immune system senses a dangerous substance, it releases a chemical called histamine to fight it off. The problem is, often the immune system tags something that is not really harmful, and launches an all out attack that can leave you feeling quite miserable. Why the immune system gets confused is another topic.

Inflammation is the result. When fighting infection, this mechanism can be effective. But anybody who remains in a chronic state of inflammation is open to all kinds of disease processes, according to many health educators.

During this time, I discovered even more allergies of my own, including pet dander, dust, perfume and hair spray. Although I could not verify Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (or mcs), it certainly felt like that was going on.

Within a few years, I became extremely ill. Work was beginning on the new house, but there were months to wait.

Besides having little ones, fighting their own illnesses and allergies, my own immune system pretty much went on strike. I lost a significant amount of weight, and encountered numerous puzzling symptoms. A healthy house was no longer just an option, but a necessity.

Allergies and Green Building

What does green building have to do with allergic reactions?

As it turns out, an awful lot.

Green building not only means energy efficiency and resource conservation, but using as many NON TOXIC building materials as possible. Since no material is perfect, you can explore this website and plan ahead to minimize any potential hazard and keep it from outgassing in your living space.

We spend a HUGE amount of our time at home.

Give your body a fighting chance to live healthy and allergy free.

Build green. Live green.

Your kids will thank you one day.

Where would you like to go next?

Go from Allergic Reactions to Building Your Green Home Page

Allergic Reaction: Toxins

Asthma Symptoms

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