brad_chad62

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I have probably had problems with food allergies since I was born, and
just didn't know it. I can remember always being very tired as a kid.
I found out when I was 40 that I was allergic to corn and dairy. I
never knew that allergies could cause fatigue or joint pain. I think
that most people would be surprised about what allergies can do. Why
don't allergist try to educate the public about food allergies? If
they are doing it, I see very little results. I don't understand why
many people have to figure out that they have food allergies on their
own. I realized that I had food allergies before my doctor did. He
didn't have a clue as to what was causing my joint pain. With all the
people who have been referred to an allergist over the years, why
aren't medical schools doing enough to help doctors recognize
allergies?
I think that the pharmaceutical industry is afraid that if more
people knew they had food allergies,they wouldn't buy as much hayfever
medicine (and other medicines too). I think that the food industry is
afraid that if more people knew that they had food allergies, there
would be less customers at these fast food restaurants. It's all about
money.

Take Care,

Brad_Chad62@msn.com

holden

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They are trying. The allergist, especially the food specialist/true allergy
specialist, is a very small portion of the medical system. VERY small.
And it is represented by an aging population of doctors, most of which
are in their 60's-80's. This is due to politics within the
specialty/medical
system going back to the late 60's through 70's, resulting in few MD's
becoming
allergists during that time (the graduating baby boomer classes). The one's
that became 'allergists' are really immunologists and asthma specialists.

The budget isnt' there, and within the greater medical system they are
still considered a joke. When your collegues won't respect your work
nor turn thier patients over to you, it is difficult to for a small group of
people to pool monies for a large advertising campaign, targeted direct to patient.


They are mostly being run by the doctors I described above. The
baby boomer generation that turned it's back on allergy due to
the belief that the 'old timers' were witch doctors who weren't
practicing medicine but instead were more interested in generating income.


Bingo! Give the man a prize. There is no money in food allergy. There
is no treatment course beyond avoidance (which isn't really true, and
I do know otherwise) but frequency of deaths pertaining to treated
food allergic patients outstripped the deaths related to inhaled allergens,
and the dangers associated with diagnosing and treating food allergy
were deemed to extreme. This opinion was forged in Europe and made
it's way across the ocean many, many years ago.

The new 'anti-IgE' medicines, which may be used in treating food allergy
will not, IMO, catch on simply due to economics. This drug will be
grossly expensive, I wouldnt' be shocked by $600 a month, every month.
This cost is due to the lack of numbers of patients, and the low % of
target market who will purchase.

Allergy in and of itself
is a niche market which hold no interest for pharma companies. A number
of LARGE pharma companies have owned allergy divisions over the past
and they all bled money. As a result they folded or sold off to minor
interests
who could be content with the much lower profits involved. Ever wonder
why the largest allergy company on the plant, responsible for 56% of the
world
market, is a charity organization designed to run at 0 profit?

I think that the food industry is


Well, you must differentiate true allergy from sensitive. True allergy
represents a negligible portion of the people buying food. Hence the
fact that they don't care. It has taken a population of motivated soccer
mom's to turn the nut packaging industry around. These aren't women
with 3 year old kids. These are women whose 3rd or 4th child is
now in the lower grades. These are baby boomers, motivated, bored
at home, huge proportion of divorces, high income earners, sit on
school boards, run for public office. These are people that are
highly motivated, and influential on all kinds of levels. And the
world caters to them. And yet *still* the changes are slow.
Because it cost money, and a lot of money, to completely change
your manufacturing and quality systems, systems that have been in
place for decades. As plants are updated, this is easier, but retro-fitting
old factories is costly. Don't ignore the fact that foodstuffs is the most
competitive industry in North America with pathetic profit levels.
The cost of food has steadily dropped as a proportion of household
income. And the industry is unable to pass the costs along to consumers.
eg: cheerio's are the #1 selling cereal in Canada. Has been for decades.
9 months ago a price increases were finally passed along to consumers.
Sales for Cheerio's dropped month to month for 7 straight months, until
the old price point was reinstituted. Once again Cheerio's is on top.
Consumers were unwilling to accept the price change, and either
completely switched cereals or went with No Name brands of cheerio's.
With no profit motive for industry (pharma or food), but this
large, powerful group of soccer moms screaming bloody murder
(at the food industry, not pharma) it's no wonder things are the
way they are.

brad_chad62

educate the public. Whether you have a "true" food allergy or food
sensitivity, you can still suffer miserably. Doctors are falsely
giving people the impression that food isn't causing their health
problems when it really is. The notion that only a very small portion
of the population has health problems related to food must be squashed. Brad_Chad62@msn.com

patricia daniel

There are groups out there trying to educate the public about food
sensitivities. Sue Dengate's group Failsafe is one of them. Look it up if
interested.

Doctors aren't trained to recognise food problems, because most of the time,
without the completion of an elimination diet (best done under supervision,
because the majority of people end up cheating on them at some point) it is
almost impossible to spot a food sensitivity.

I do react poorly to people who harrass doctors over their inability to
see/find something wrong with them, mostly as my partner is a doctor, who is
going through specialist training atm. The amount of training and
information they have to remember is ridiculous, and as food issues
(excluding those resulting in an anaphalactic shock type reaction) are hard
to see, and are as yet unexplained, give them a break.

In all honesty, you rely on a family doctor to spot big issues. Heart, Lung,
Brain, and also remember that the doctor can only find something if you give
all the information, and don't filter it yourself. Most people only tell
doctors what they think is relevant, and in reality there are usually
factors that your average person finds irrelevant and don't mention, which
may be important.

Also, true food allergies are rare. To havem doctors telling you that you
might be sick from your food, that will scare alot of people, and honestly,
most people if the reaction is temporary or minor, will deal with it. Also
remember the more you educate the public about some medical condition, the
more people are going to assume that they have one, which can cause them to
leave a food group out entirely and face other more serious problems from
lacking certain nutrients in their diet. You also run the risk of people
assuming that after eating a certain food they have a certain reaction and
therefore thinking of it as an allergy/intolerance (and not havinf it
checked out), when it could be something much more serious.

Also, you realise that allergy medications don't work against food issues.
If you think you have hayfever and take a medication and it doesn't work,
most people stop or tell their doctor. So the pharmaceutical companise
aren't really a cause of the problem at all. Realistically it is the
public's ignorance (and often the fact that they want to believe that their
problems can be solved by medications) that causes the issues.

The public does not need to be educated about allergies/intolerances unless
it effects them. The people who should be educated are the manufacturers of
the foods. They need to understand that not labelling everything properly
can cause problems in people. I have that issue. I react to sulphites, which
can often be hidden in some ingredients in certain foods. Current labelling
laws do have loopholes..... Target those who let those loopholes exist, the
labeling laws etc.

Sorry if I raved. I do not blame my local doctors for not picking up food
issues, as even I had difficulty spotting them when I ran my own elimination
diet some time ago, and I have a science degree..... I blame those who allow
labelling laws to have loopholes, and the poor education of companies which
use certain additives known to cause asthma symptoms, when other additives
exist that are better to use.

Anyway.... sorry again for the raving....

Patsy


news:<juOmc.23581$urx.15780@news04.bloor.is.net.ca ble.rogers.com>...

brad_chad62

The problem that I have with the medical profession is that
allergist have become the "bastard child" of the medical profession. I
don't expect doctors to recognize allergies right away. Why can't
doctors just send patients to an allergist when they get stumped by a
problem that a patient has? They can send people to an allergist as
"Plan B" when they can't figure out what is wrong with them. Many
doctors just assume that the patient is crazy if they can't figure out
what is wrong with them. Why don't more doctors get suspicious if a
patient has a history of hayfever or asthma? Why don't medical schools
tell doctors that thousands of patients go from doctor to doctor for
years, only to have allergist treat their health problems?

Many of the test for food allergies are not accurate (except the
elimination diet). I have a problem with the fact that many of these
doctors who perform these allergy test don't inform their patients
about ALL of the facts concerning food sensitivities. They give people
the impression that these allergy test can tell whether you have ANY
problem with food whatsoever. How many people are told that they don't
have food allergies only to find out that they do have a food sensitivity later on?


Why doesn't the fact that thousands of people go misdiagnosed,
for years, make front page news? I don't see the pharmaceutical
companies advertising the fact that some people can eliminate their
hayfever through a change in diet. Maybe they don't want to lower
their profits? Many people read a lot, but still don't come across the
scarce amount of information about food sensitivities.

If you don't give people the right information (and if their
doctor can't help them) they will simply turn to alternative medicine.
Sometimes the dangerous alternative medicines. I can't believe how I
had to dig for information in order to figure out that I had a food
allergy, and I was lucky. How can the public know that food
sensitivity doesn't affect them if they are not educated? Education is
NEVER bad. People misuse education because of their egos.

mike

Excuse me but now I'm mad! The problem with doctors and food allergies
is that THEY DON'T LISTEN TO THEIR PATIENTS - YES I'M SHOUTING!
I suffered miserably for years and went to doctor after doctor after doctor
after doctor. Every d&%# one of them REFUSED to listen to me when I
told them there was something wrong; that I don't feel well! Every D&%# one
of them told me "There's nothing wrong with you" "You're depressed"
"You're a hypochondriac" "Go see a psychiatrist" "Don't bother me,
go away". I was treated with anti-depressants, tranquilizers, sleeping
pills. They did their few little basic tests, didn't find anything
obvious and pronounced it all my fault that I felt bad; it was all
in my head. NOT ONE *LISTENED* TO ME and was even remotely willing
to consider anything beyond their stupid arrogant egotistical arcane
medical books and doctrine. I took their drugs and saw their
psychiatrists because I was so sick and desperate to feel better I
was hoping against hope something might work - but none of it worked.
Finally through a lot of research *I* determined it must be some kind
of food allergy and DEMANDED that an allergist test for food allergies.
Lo and behold I have a serious allergy to SOY. After 4 weeks of a soy-free
diet (which is not easy believe me) I felt better than I ever have in my
entire life. That was a number of years ago and I can tell now within
minutes if I eat something accidentally that contains soy.

I will not listen to a bunch of defensive B.S. about doctors and I will
NOT give them break after all the years of suffering they put me through
when I went to them for help. Not only because of the allergy itself but
putting it off on me as a mental problem. All ONE of them had to do was
be willing to *LISTEN* to their patient and say let's look a little farther
there must be reason you feel bad - BUT THERE WAS NOT ONE!

So I don't give a s$#@ if you or your partner are offended and I am sick of
hearing this "Do No Harm" crap from doctors. Doctors have done me
WAY MORE HARM than good.

Let me give you doctors a piece of advice here:
"LISTEN TO YOUR PATIENT INSTEAD OF YOUR EGO - YOU'LL BE A MUCH BETTER DOCTOR"!

holden

Interestingly, Mike, that just happens to be the guiding principle of
allergy/allergists (at least the good ones).

But it isn't the guide of the everyday physician. They are not overwhelmed
by case after case of bizarre conditions and symptoms, clues that
would not ordinarily point to allergy.

mrungren

My opinion on this quagmire of food allergy some of us face....is
this: Man's food production/distrubution capability has overtaken
human's digestive tract. One case in point....at what point in
history did sunflower seeds become shelled and sold in one pound bags?
A very energy potent food. Seeds are designed by nature to produce
a plant. An incredible feat. Sometime we take for granted its power.

Looking at a nation like Afganistan ...Have you ever seen how perfect
the people are? Please accept my appologies for any suffering. I'd
say malnutrition in some cases is a positive thing.

thomas mueller

Excerpt from "Holden" <irchooker@NOSPAM.com/rogers>:

Vicious cycle here: As volume of production increases, cost of production per
unit decreases. With such a high price, there wil be very few buyers, hence
no chance for mass production, and no chance of a reasonable price. Maybe we
need a constitutional amendment repealing the law of supply and demand?

brad_chad62

I don't understand why the news media hardly ever reports on the
fact that the medical profession is constantly misdiagnosing an
ailment that affects millions of people. I can't believe how secretive
the controversy about food allergies is. The public must think that
all doctors feel the same way about food sensitivities. I notice few
books about food allergies in most bookstores.

Brad_Chad62@msn.com