Let the facts sink in– allergy relief and medications have turned up an $18- billion industry, which is why the worldwide web is replete with sites egging on sufferers and their caregivers to buy their wares, with no “approved therapeutic claims.”
Take exotic mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana to botanists, next of kin to batuan or G. binucao, a fruit used as condiment for sinigang in southern parts of the Philippines). The fruit’s bitter rind packs natural antihistamines and antioxidants called xanthones which can, as claimed, “control a wide range of healing functions,” relief from allergic reactions included. Hold your horses: there’s dearth of clinical studies on xanthones–and no clinical evidence to back up claims.
The more enterprising sufferer would hop off to the nearest fruit stand, bring home a kilo or two of mangosteen, enjoy the tart-sweetish pulp and, maybe, boil up a few cups of fruit peels into a bitter placebo drink–and, as an increasing number of research findings show, placebos can work sometimes. Such experiments can be a hit-or-mess affair.
“We bring doctors’ knowledge to you” so sounds off medicinenet.com–and this site delivers such in terms that the layman can grasp, including historical tidbits, say, “Austrian pediatrician Clemens Pirquet first used the term allergy in reference to both immunity that was beneficial and to the harmful hypersensitivity as “allergy.” The word allergy is coined from the Greek ‘allos,’ meaning different or changed and ‘ergos,’ meaning work or action.”
Medicinenet.com’s menu on allergy covers the subject–plus slideshows on allergy triggers, pets and allergies, and a how-to on nasal-allergy relief. The site also provides a sidebar that offers latest news and developments plus a list of incisive articles on allergies. The site’s online physicians also provide a shop-list of suggested readings on the topic.
