The first myth is that allergies are caused by allergens such as pollens, house mites, dust or other such substances. While it is true that these types of things trigger allergic symptoms, the underlying cause is a malfunctioning immune system; "Immunity gone wrong". The allergen simply triggers an incorrect immune system response. In a sense, the immune system identifies the harmless allergen and tries to kill it. The allergic symptoms many of us are so familiar with, runny noses, watery eyes, etc., are direct signs of our immune systems trying to kill these harmless substances. This chaos cannot be separated from the stress put on our immune systems from infections. Many auto-immune diseases can be viewed as a severe form of allergy where the immune system attacks its owner.
Studies over the past years demonstrate that the constant auto-inoculation of the nose and eyes by the fingertip area, leads to an overloaded immune system and most of the infections of the upper respiratory tract. This overload of the immune system is maintained by our congested urban areas, an environment rich in manmade toxic substances (pollution) and fast, mass transportation which move microbes from one part of the world to another each day. All of which impacts us each time we touch our fingertips to the sensitive membranes of our eyes and nose, overloading our immune systems.
Germs Are Transferred Through Your Fingernails
When we think of diseases being transferred from person to person, we conjure up images of people sneezing or coughing on each other. We picture germs hurtling out of people's mouths and noses and rocketing through the air right into our own noses or mouths to infect us. This is a frightening picture, but this is also untrue, because relatively few germs become airborne, and fewer still actually bother us.
Germs are handed to us during routine -and intimate -physical contact. Germs are handed to us because human hands -especially under the nails- are a cornucopia of germs. If you take samples from various parts of the hands you'll see that while there are tens, hundreds, thousands of germs on the backs and palms of the hands and on the fingers, there are tens of millions, sometimes hundreds of millions of germs under the fingernails.
The fact that the undersides of the fingernails are a breeding ground and a safe haven for germs is double trouble. First, the fingernails are not protected by the "horny" layer of skin, making it easier for germs to enter the body via the fingernails. Once inside they can get into the many blood vessels that feed the remarkably sensitive fingertips. Second, it is with our fingertips that we commonly touch each othe r-and ourselves. Fingertips touch flesh when we shake hands, when we caress a lover, when we grab hold of someone's arm to steady them. Fingertips are involved when we hand someone a pencil or a dollar, when we touch a computer keyboard or telephone. Fingertips come into play when we scratch ourselves, floss our teeth, prepare and eat our food.
Once on the hand, germs accumulate under and around the fingernails, from where they hitchhike to the damp membranes of the eyes and nose (autoinoculation). Surprising, this is the process by which many germs and allergens affect our metabolism... through the contact of our fingertips to the eyes and nose.
Autoinoculation
The average person touches their nose, mouth, and eyes many times a day. If you watch a group of adults for an hour, you'll find that 1 out of every 3 touches their nose, and 1 in every 2.7 touches their eyes. Even this small amount of innocent touching is enough to carry germs from the mouth, where they were probably unable to penetrate the body's defenses, to the nose or eyes, where they have an easier time causing damage. This passing of germs from one part of your body to another, unknowingly carrying them to the places the germs like the best, is called autoinoculation. But whether the germs come directly from others, arrive indirectly via items we touch, or move from one part of our body to another via autoinoculation, they're bad news.
Lowering Albumin: the "Hidden" Problem with Infection and Disease
If germs enteed the body and nsimply did their damage, that would be serious enough. But they do far more. In order to fight off invading bacteria, viruses, fungi and other invaders, the body sends the immune system into action. In no time at all, T-cells, B-cells, macrophages, eosinophils, and other immune system soldiers are engaged in battle with the enemy. Here's how poor hygiene can lead to health disasters:
- The immune system utilizes many protein-based substances to fight off invasion, and to defend the body.
- There can only be a certain concentration of all proteins in the body. When the concentration of immune system proteins goes up, the concentration of other proteins must fall.
- One of the proteins that decreases when the immune system is engaged in battle is albumin, and that's where the trouble lies. Albumin is an important protein that is found in most animal tissues. Medical doctors measure the amounts found in the blood with a simple blood test.
- Albumin has not been a focus of traditional medicine despite the fact that albumin levels are the single most important indicator of health status. If the level of albumin in your blood drops, your risk of contracting a serious possibly deadly-disease shoots way up. Statistical reports demonstrate that albumin levels correlate closely with age, but are not truly age-related. That is, albumin levels tend to drop as we grow older, but don't necessarily have to.
Albumin is assembled in the liver from more than 500 amino acids. It is the most abundant protein in the bloodstream, and has many important duties. It:
- Protects easily damaged tissues from the free radicals that can destroy cells and cause cancer by altering cellular DNA.
- Guards against heart disease by transporting the antioxidant vitamins that help keep the coronary arteries clean, binding up fatty acids that tend to clog arteries and stabilizing the ratio between HDL ("good" cholesterol) and LDL ("bad" cholesterol)
- Binds up waste products, toxins, and dangerous drugs that would otherwise damage the body and encourage disease. It also detoxifies the fluids surrounding cells.
- Protects the biological terrain by buffering the blood against pH changes.
- Helps to keep the blood flowing smoothly by preventing red blood cells and other substances from clumping together.
- Is essential for transporting vitamins, magnesium, copper, zinc, bilirubin, uric acid, sex hormones, thyroid hormone, other hormones, and fatty acids throughout the body. It regulates the movement of nutrients between the blood and the body's cells.
- Stabilizes red blood cells and growth hormones.
- Plays a major role in controlling the precise amount of water in various bodily tissues.
- Plays an important role in transporting and circulating reservoirs of thyroid hormones.
- Purifies the cerebrospinal fluid, nourishes brain cells, and maintains the blood-brain barrier.
- Helps to ensure that there are adequate amounts of certain key minerals in the bones.
- Binds and transports the "stress hormone" known as cortisol, reducing stress-induced damage to the thymus gland, brain, and connective tissue.
Albumin has been described as a "portable liver" because the liver is the body's chief mechanism for disarming toxins and other dangerous substances, and because albumin, which is made in the liver, does the same throughout the body. It's as if the liver has sent millions of tiny pieces of itself to every single little cell, to round up and destroy harmful substances and organisms.
Albumin plays an indispensable role in maintaining the delicate chemical balance of the nourishing fluids (interstitial fluids) that surround and support the trillions of cells in the human body. If these fluids are healthy, the cells will flourish. But if the fluids become polluted, or depleted of certain substances, the cells cannot help but fall ill, and disease will sweep through the body. Albumin is like a filter that removes toxins from water, like the net that scoops debris out of a swimming pool, like the dispenser that squirts extra vitamin D into milkalbumin ensures that bodily fluids are clean, filled with nutrients, and properly balanced. And when you're filled with health-giving fluid, you cannot help but be healthy.
When Albumin Levels Fall
Ideally, there should be 5.0 g/d1 (grams per deciliter) of albumin in the blood. Lower levels, around 3.5 or so, are commonly seen in long-time vegetarians and people suffering from malnutrition, kidney disease, cancer, severe infections, Crohn's disease, pancreatitis, and other diseases. However, levels don't have to fall as low as 3.5 before trouble appears.
Low levels of albumin have been linked to all cancers, with the risk of developing cancer rising as albumin falls. Albumin is low in all people suffering from cancer. You can track the progress of the disease by looking at the patient's albumin leve l-the lower the albumin, the more rampant the cancer. In fact, a low albumin level may actually cause cancer. Albumin normally neutralizes aflatoxin, nitrosamines, and other powerful carcinogens (cancer-causing substances).
We are exposed to many airborne chemicals, especially if we live in polluted cities or near certain kinds of factories and plants. We also know that some forms of cancer are caused by viral infections. That's why it's vital that we regularly and carefully wash away any germs or chemicals that can cause cancer, as well as those that can indirectly cause the disease by overwhelming our immune systems and reducing our albumin, allowing cancer to sneak in the "back door."
Declining albumin also indicates an increased risk of heart disease. A long-term British heart study found that a low albumin level was a good predictor of heart disease. Another study stated that the odds of suffering from coronary artery disease doubled when the albumin level fell to 4.4 (that's only about l0% below the ideal level Of 5).
Low levels of albumin are associated with several other diseases, including Hodgkin's disease and HIV, the precursor to AIDS. Indeed, you can use low albumin levels as a "predictor" of mortality. People with albumin levels below 3.5 g/dl are approximately twenty times more likely to die from all causes than those with albumin levels of 5.0 g/dl. Many studies have confirmed this fact. Nursing home residents with albumin levels of 3.5 g/dl had a death rate of about 50%, compared with an 11% rate found in those with higher levels (around 4.0 g/dl). Among men and women over the age of 70, death rates were 40% lower in those with albumin levels of 4.4 g/dl, compared to those with levels of 4.2 g/dl. Hip fractures are a serious problem for the elderly, who often weaken and die after the break. Among hip-fracture patients whose albumin levels were low (3.0), the death rate was 70%. But among those with albumin levels 4.0, the death rate was only 11%."
Why Does Albumin Fall?
Albumin levels drop when the immune system engages in a battle with invading bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other germs. It also falls when the body is forced to deal with an onslaught of toxins and other dangerous substances that we inhale, drink, or eat, or that get into the body through the skin, respiratory system, or other ports of entry. The fact that the body mounts a powerful offensive is good, otherwise we would die. But the unintended consequence, the shortfall in albumin, is harmful in the long run.
Temporary drops in albumin levels are necessary, and not a problem. It's as if we miss a credit card payment one month because of unexpected medical expenses, then make the missed payment, with interest, the next month. Our credit takes a small "hit," then quickly recovers before any permanent damage is done. The problem comes when we're continually battling infections, parasites, and toxins. Then our albumin runs low for months on end and, like a person who doesn't make a credit card payment for several months, our "credit" is eventually ruined. Now we're facing serious illness, and we never seem to have enough resources to beat the disease and "get ahead."
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