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Allergies … Why Me?

A customer called up and told me she has never been allergic to anything in her life and now all of a sudden she is allergic to dust mites. Why?

First of all, she really should be asking her doctor that question.

Years ago when I was 14 or 15 I got really sick after eating some watermelon. My face puffed up so much that I had a hard time seeing and breathing was not easy. Mom took me to the doctor and he said I was allergic to melons.

Of course, Mom told him no way because I had been eating them all my life and never had a problem. He went on to tell us sometimes allergic reactions just happen for no reason. I did not believe him, thought it was just a bad watermelon, so I ate some more. Same reaction….

Our bodies and immune system changes as we age. Being exposed to certain things, mold, for example, can cause our immune system to react differently. In “Flourishing with Food Allergies ” they discuss something called toxic load theory where your body gets overloaded with too much of a certain thing or a combination of several things at one time.

Oh, and let’s not forget stress. Stress affects sleep, and loss of sleep affects the immune system.

Sometimes bad things just happen to good people. By the way, I still try a little piece of watermelon once a year to see if the allergy has gone away. Not yet but I am still hoping.

Wishing you the best of health
Mike Krause

AllergyStore.com – Serving Customers Since 1989
800 771-ACHOO

Record Snow and Rain .. Perfect Allergy Storm

Be prepared for a worse than normal allergy season. The record snowfall followed by very early and heavy rains have got the tree and grass pollens flying. In North Carolina last week we were told by several people they have not seen the grass grow the way it is right now in years. It is like it was just waiting for the hard winter to be over. The trees and flowers were in full bloom even at 4,000 ft. So pretty but so bad for allergy sufferers.

With that being said there is no reason to suffer. Don”t forget to wear your dust or pollen mask when doing the yard work, put clean clothes on when you go inside and take your medication.

Wishing you the best of health
Mike Krause
AllergyStore.com – Serving Customers Since 1989
800 771-ACHOO

Best Air Purifiers For Mold and Mildew in Flooded Spaces

We have been getting a lot of calls the past couple of weeks from people in the north east about flooded rooms, basements and what air purifiers work best for mold and mildew. Unfortunately I am sure we will be getting calls from people in Tennessee who have been affected by all the flooding with the same questions.

For situations where mold and other microorganisms are the issue we recommend the AirPura P600 air purifier . This air purifier combines leading edge technology, photo-catalytic oxidation, with germicidal UV and High Efficiency Air Filtration. AirPura designed the machine for this type of problem.

With that being said the first thing you need to do is dry things out before the mold gets going. We did mold remediation for several years and saw first hand problems made worse because people left wet carpeting and drywall in a room.

When our house and offices got flooded in hurricane Wilma the first thing we did was video tape the damaged areas to show our insurance company the standing water and then we ripped out all the wet carpeting. At the office the wet drywall was removed (about 49” up from the floor) so air could circulate inside the wall cavity and then we sprayed everything with the Vital Oxide disinfectant spray . Our air purifiers stayed running the entire time.

Because we did all of this we did not end up having any problems with mold or mildew in either place. The insurance adjuster did not give us a hard time because we had the video to show the damage and in fact was happy because we limited the amount of damage.

Wishing you the best of health,
Mike Krause
AllergyStore.com – Helping Customer Since 1989
800 771-2246