Customer Reviews

The American Lung Association Family Guide to Asthma and Allergies

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When I picked up this book to read the section on dust mites this afternoon, I felt terribly confused because it sounded just like the book I read earlier this afternoon. I checked to make sure I hadn't accidentally acquired two versions of the same book, but no, I hadn't. The other book, Taming Asthma and Allergy by Controlling Your Environment: A Guide for Patients by Robert A. Wood, was published three years earlier and didn't appear to have any link to this one. Dr. Wood is not an author of the ALA book, and his book is not credited in the dust mites section (although it is listed as a reference on page 221 of the ALA book.

I compared the two books line-by-line, and they were eerily similar: the American Lung Association's section on dustmites copies the structure of the prior book, with some slight paraphrasing and editing. For example, here's a breakdown of one paragraph found on page 65-66 of the Wood book, and p. 79 of the ALA book:

WOOD: "The next step is to remove all unnecessary fabric items, especially stuffed animals."
ALA: "The next step to controlling dustmites is to consider removing all unnecessary fabric items from the bedroom. Try to get rid of as many stuffed animals as possible."

WOOD "Other items you should remove from the bed include extra pillows, canopies, and comforters -- especially down comforters. Replace them with items that can be laundered easily, and wash all items in a hot cycle at least once every two weeks."
ALA, p. 79 You should also remove extra pillows, canopies, and thick comforters (especially down comforters) and replace them with items you can readily wash. You should wash all bedding in hot water at least two weeks to kill mites.

This book provides a good baseline start for controlling environmental allergies for parents with highly allergic or asthmatic children. Of course, the parents themselves can also benefit by following the procedures indicated in the book. Two things that I did not find in the book were: a comprehensive plan for dealing with food allergies/food sensivities, and also what nutritional supplements people with allergies/asthma should be taking. Vitamin C should be taken by all people who have allergies and/or asthma, because high doses of Vitamin C block mast cell degranulation, which inhibits histamine release (thus Vitamin C is a natural antihistamine). Also, Vitamin C has bronchodilator effects. For more information about Vitamin C's myriad functions, read the book The Failures of American Medicine.