I spent most of my childhood and young adulthood medicated for allergies. In my time – the late 1970s and 80s – childhood allergies were somewhat freakish. I think I knew maybe one kid who had an allergy to chocolate. But I never knew any child who would break out in hives and violent sneezing fits when she went to visit her friend with a dog (even if the dog was out of the room). I never knew another child whose parents had to pick her up from overnights because of the severe allergy attack that seemed to be an inevitable component of children romping around together. From the age of 6 or 7 until my late 20s, I was on some sort of daily allergy medication. I was allergic to all sorts of things, but pet dander was the biggest culprit.
I went off of all allergy medications when I was 28, when my then-husband and I planned to have a child. I suffered terribly, as I was living with 2 very hairy dogs and 2 cats at the time. And once the mucous membrane inflammation that is a part of all pregnancies set in, I was miserable perpetually – at home, outside, and in the office where I worked. I had to stuff a tissue up my nose just to have two hands free to type; my nose ran and tickled constantly. But then, around month 4 of my pregnancy, the allergies disappeared completely. Totally. Utterly. I could pick up the cats and sniff their fur. The dogs could drool on me and not produce hives. It was amazing.
The allergies stayed at bay for 4 years following my son’s birth, so I considered myself finally free of these loathsome disorders. I joyfully acquired 3 cats and a dog, and continued in my anti-allergy lifestyle: no carpets, daily vacuuming, regular grooming and bathing of the dog, and no pets in my bedroom. But then the remission (or whatever you want to call it) gradually ended over the last 2 years, and I was once again plagued with allergy symptoms, despite continuing the anti-allergy lifestyle.
At first, I blamed it on pollen. But when winter set in and my allergies worsened when I was shut inside with all the pets, I knew that my old, allergic self had returned. The symptoms were so severe that I could hardly function. And so I turned to herbs, something I wish I had done 30 years ago. And here’s what I discovered.
Ginkgo, the living fossil that is a testament to a species’ resilience and adaptability, turned out to be the answer. Ginkgo’s little fan-shaped leaves, fluttering long before human history, contain a component that inhibits Platelet Activating Factor, or PAF. I can not help but be awed by this amazing fact that shows so beautifully the Mastermind of the Creator. PAF, it seems, is a vital link in the chemical chain that is an allergic attack. Inhibiting PAF weakens the link and effectively disrupts the chain, preventing an attack from completing its cycle and taking hold.
This summer, I acquired a bottle of Ginkgo supplements for less than $2 – they were on sale at my local grocery store. I picked them up thinking I would give them to my mother, who has arteriosclerosis. But she claimed Ginkgo made her nose bleed, so I had this supplement on hand when I read James A. Duke, PhD’s account of Ginkgo as a treatment for allergies. I now take 1 or 2 capsules a day, and my allergies are once more at bay.
It’s enough to make me pick up one of my cats and sniff its fur.
