Allergies

Allergies are not normal reactions of the immune system to substances which are harmless to most of the people. If you are allergic to some substances, your immune system mistakenly believes that this is harmful to your body, it produces IgE antibodies to that substance, called allergen which in turn cause certain cells in your body to release substances into your blood, and the important one is histamine.

Histamine is responsible for the allergic symptoms, it acts then on your eyes, nose, throat, lungs, skin or gastrointestinal tract and causes the allergic reactions. Every time if you come in contact with that same allergen, you will have an allergic reaction.

The common allergies are:

Food allergy – it is increasing. In food intolerance for example lactose intolerance, your immune system does not play a role.

Drugs allergy, prescribed, over-the-counter and also plant medicines in allopathy and in all the other traditional medicine – a drug allergy is a wrong immune system reaction to a drug

Dust allergy – any dust, particularly dust from roadside affects your health very much

Dust mite allergy – dust mites are micro organisms which are found plenty in our bed or home, eating your dead skin cells and living in bedding, furnishings and carpets. Their faeces and decaying bodies mixed and dried with dust become airborne. It is not harmful if you are not allergic, if not, they can cause bothersome allergic reactions.

Mould allergy – when you come in contact with mould spores, your body recognizes them as foreign invaders and develops antibodies to fight them. Histamine is released in your body which cause the symptoms itchy, watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing and other allergic symptoms.

Groundnut allergy – groundnut allergy is common and often appears in the first years of life, but unlike milk, egg allergy, most of the children do not outgrow groundnut allergy as they get older.

Penicillin allergy – penicillin allergy occurs when your immune system recognizes it as a harmful substance.

Shellfish allergy – it is one of the most common food allergies and it can affect children also. Shellfish includes shrimp, lobster, clams, octopus and squid

Soya bean allergy – your immune system identifies certain Soya proteins as harmful and after that the procedure is the same as earlier.

Wheat allergy – Wheat is one of the most common allergy causing foods and children are often attacked than the adults. Here the villain is gluten.

Hay fever – your immune system mistakenly identifies a harmless airborne substance as something harmful. These are seasonal or round the year allergies, tree pollen in the spring, grass pollen common in late spring and summer, weed pollen common in the fall and spores from fungi and moulds in the warm-weather months. The year-round hay fever is triggered by dust, dander, dried skin flaks from pet animals and spores from indoor and outdoor fungi or moulds.

Nickel contact allergy – nickel is an essential element, but the problem is the contact allergy. Nickel may be in several products such as fashion jewelleries, coins, eyeglass frames, belts etc.

Latex allergy – it is an allergic reaction to certain proteins found in natural rubber latex, a product manufactured from the milky fluid from the rubber tree from Southeast Asia and Africa.

Chronic hives – hives, also known as urticaria, are batches of raised, red or white wheals of various sizes, which appear and disappear. Mostly they disappear within few weeks and for some people it is a long term problems.

Pet allergy – it is also one of the most common allergies from dogs, cats, birds, hamsters etc. Remember, it is not the fur or feather causes the allergic reaction, but the small and invisible flakes of animal skin is the villain here.

Remember, any other substance can also bring allergic reactions to you, if you observe and remember everything, it is easy to find out this new allergen, unfortunately if you have allergy to a substance, you may have also allergic reactions to many other substances.

The best things to avoid allergies are to avoid the allergy producing substances, if it is not possible like in the cases of air pollution or pollen, medication may be necessary, contact an allergy specialist to get the maximum help.

Sethu Samudram Project - An Alternative Plan: Ramar Island. The Love Story – love, love, love…

Chapter 5

In his room Raman thought about the day. This was the day when he suffered the most and also the happiest day for him. His lips muttered Geetha, Geetha and his whole face were covered with a smile; her face was in front of his eyes and he could remember everything clearly. He knew several girl students from his college. They have studied together, went to beach or to restaurant together, but he never had such an urge to see somebody like her once again. He slept very soundly on that night without any dream.

Geetha thought of her day. It was a gift from Sri Mariamman for her, she thought and at the same time she was also afraid of the future. What would his family tell or have they already arranged some girl for him? What her parents would tell when they come to know about her thoughts? It was her turn now and the whole night she was not sleeping. The coming days would be mine and hope I could have luck was her continuous thoughts during the whole night. The sun rose with its mighty rays and she was still awake.

Raman picked her up punctually at 9 a.m. with a BMW car which he rented through his hotel. She saw the car with big eyes and asked, “Are you very rich?”
He replied with a smile, “One needs only a credit card to get such a car”. Like all handsome young men he also liked BMW, so to say he loved it.
In the car she told her plan what all to see during the three days. “At first we go to Sri Veeramakaliamman” she said with a smile.
“Want to search the parrot fortune teller?” he asked.
“No”, was her reply, “I want to go to the temple and afterwards we wander a bit in Little India. After that we drive to China Town, of course, to Sri Mariamman Temple. It is our temple and will also be always our temple”.
He saw her dreaming eyes and wondered what was going on in her intelligent head.

They entered inside the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple; it is at 141 Serangoon Road and is one of the oldest temples in Singapore. It was built by the pioneers who came to work and live here and was the first in Serangoon area. It became a focus point for Indian social and cultural activities. The first name of the temple is Soonnanbu Kambam Koil which meant the temple at lime villages. All the deities were from India and Geetha was explaining him everything without a break and he wondered how many times she had been here in these two weeks. They felt that they were in India and this made them happy and very fresh. She wanted to eat some South Indian sweets and talked about the life in Singapore. After that they rushed to China town and there she wanted to see the Sri Mariamman Temple. If I could marry him I would come here first with him she thought and her face become red and he was noticing the changes in her face carefully, but without any comment. In this place I met her and here we must come often he thought. Here also she explained him everything as if she had known everything from her childhood. Women were near to God than men he thought or it could be their place to escape from men or family or the society was his second thought.

Geetha and Raman drove through China town and enjoyed this busy and unique place. They had decided to eat something here and plan for the next two days. They enjoyed the meals or so to say enjoyed their conversation. She wanted to know everything about him and he answered all her questions patiently. He enjoyed because her questions were sometimes very intelligent and sometimes very childish. He thought intelligence and Indian culture were nesting together in her.

As he wanted to go further she looked at him with her shining and happy eyes, “Why can’t we sit here and talk further?”
He smiled at her and said, “But you can’t show me the whole Singapore now and what should I say if they ask me in India what I have been doing all the time in Singapore”.
“My parents are here and we could come at any time”, was her naughty reply.

“What do you want to see?” she asked.
“Make some suggestions, you know better than me”, he replied.
“No problem”, she said and without a break she told him about the tourist attractions in Singapore. They include the Army Museum of Singapore, Captain Explorer DUKw Tour, City & Cultural FunVeeTour, Cheng Ho Cruise, Escape Theme Park, Fort Siloso, Hibiscus @ Singapore Turf Club, Images of Singapore, Labrador Secret Tunnel, Malay Village, MINT Museum of Toys, National Orchid Garden, Red dot design museum, Sentosa 4D Magix, Singapore Discovery Centre, Singapore Philatelic Museum, Songs of the Sea, The Merlion, TigerLIVE, Wild Wild Wet, Butterfly Park & Insect Kingdom, Journeys - The Original Singapore Walks Jurong Bird Park, LiliPutt Indoor Mini Golf, School of Hard Knocks @Royal Selangor, Night Safari, Singapore Flyer, Singapore River Cruises, Singapore Zoo, Snow City, The Changi Museum, Audio Guided Tour, Tiger Sky Tower, Underwater World Singapore, Clarke Quay, Marina Barrage, NEWater Visitor Centre, Singapore Botanic Gardens and The Changi Museum.

“What do you want to see in two days?” she asked him, “we drive with the car everywhere, but sit somewhere and talk a lot”. Her delighted eyes were telling a lot, but what could be that was like a riddle for him. He knew her not even 24 hours and she started dictating now everything, he thought.
“Look”, he said to her, “plan whatever you like and I present you my two days to you”.
“That is very generous of you, but it is also dangerous because your acceptance is unconditional”, she told and her eyes were very serious.
“I’m aware of this danger”, he answered with a smile and they drove to her house back. She was happy as she felt that he liked her.

“Come to my room, we can talk about everything” she said, “don’t forget you must listen to me”. He followed her without answering her and now in her room he saw her like a child with shining and happy eyes. It was a perfect room and everything was there what a young woman could dream.
“I thought in few days you are going to leave, but it seems you have made permanent quarters here” he smiled.
“It is my father’s wish and as I told you I can come here at any time”, she replied. “Now it is going to be serious”, she told, and “what do you think about marriage and family?”
“You could ask me this question after 5 years”, he laughed, and “and then I will give you the correct answer”.
“You spoil the whole fun and discussion brings more new ideas”, she said, “Come on, let us talk”.
“Okay, I will marry and have a family when I have finished my doctorate and there will be no change in it”, he said.
“If you fall in love with a girl then what will you do?” she smiled.
“I request her to wait till I finish my studies; she can agree for that or go away. If she accepts I have no problem to wait for her even if it is few years” was his reply. She thought of many young men who wanted to talk to her the same subject, sex, after five minutes. He was different and it attracted her towards him and she did not have the power to stop her thoughts about him and she became silent. He was observing her and after 15 min told her to go to the hall where her parents are waiting for them and walked slowly. Mr. Arunachlam asked both several questions and their answer was always very short. He gave a cover in his daughter’s hand and she opened it casually and she shouted. “Papa, I thank you very much”, and gave him a kiss in his cheek.
“Mamma, we eat now, after that Raman could drive to his hotel to take some rest and tomorrow will be a very tough day”, she said in a delighted voice. Before he left to his hotel Mr. Arunachalam gave him a cover and asked him to open next day morning. He thanked him and drove to his hotel and thought that he was no more the same Raman as before.

The next two days they were looking almost everything in Singapore without concentrating the details because both were occupied with their thoughts and feelings.
“What was in your cover?” she asked.
“My cover has two tickets for a dinner in a cable car”, he smiled and asked about her cover. “You are lucky”, she murmured, but did not answer his question. It was my secret, she thought.

Raman told her about the cable dining. This two hour romantic dinner takes place in the cabin about 110 m above the sea.
“The cabins are made for four and some old couple come there to share their time with us”, she said. He thought that everything was like a dream. In this Saturday, he would dine with Geetha, bring her back home and say good bye to her and that was it, he thought. He wanted to tell many things, but somehow he did not find the right words. The romantic dinner was magnificent and they enjoyed their stay in the cable car and the wonderful scenery below and around them made them feel they were in a different planet. They were talking about everything and he noticed that her eyes were very loving when she looked at him. Before they left she asked the waiter about the empty seats, he checked in his cards and told that Family Arunachalam did not turn up. She thanked her father in her mind for this wonderful evening.

Raman dropped Geetha at her home and had tea with Mr. Arunachalam. He thanked him for the dinner in the cable car and Mr. Arunachalam smiled, but from his face he could not read anything. At 10 p.m. he said good bye to all and in his room he felt that he was missing something.
“Am I missing Geetha?” he thought, “yes”, was the answer from his inner voice. He had mixed feelings and the past days were not at all giving him a clear picture about everything what had happened. He had his shower and slept soundly.

Sethu Samudram Project - An Alternative Plan: Ramar Island. The Love Story – coming closer…

Chapter 4

It was a bungalow with a well maintained beautiful small garden; she opened the door and they both entered inside.

“Papa, Mamma, I have brought one guest”, she shouted and they waited in the hall. A man in his middle forties and his wife appeared. “They are my parents”, she said loudly, “This is Mr…” she stopped abruptly and asked him, “What is your name?” Her father laughed heartily and told that his daughter brought a guest without name.


Blood ran on Raman’s face and he introduced himself, “I am Raman from Chennai, sir”.
“I am Arunachalam”, her father said and they shook the hands, “I have here no Seetha but only Geetha”, and he pointed out his daughter.
“Now I also know her name”, was his answer. He said Vanakkam to her mother and they all sat in the sofas there.
“Do you want to drink coffee or tea or juice - mango, orange, pineapple and lemon - are available”, she said. Before he could answer Geetha told her mother that he is very hungry and she could make a South Indian meal with rice, sambar and vegetables. He protested only vaguely and wanted to drink only water.
“I will prepare something in 30 min”, said the mother, Geetha wanted to help her mother and they both disappeared from the hall.

“Now, tell me something about you”, asked her father, “it seems that you are a tourist here”. He narrated the purpose of his journey to Singapore. “I have finished my B.E., would like to work for one year and after that I want to do masters. My final aim is to get a doctorate later and do some applied research”.
“Not bad”, shouted Arunachalam, “We have come up in life without a doctorate, but now-a-days it is important to have one”.
“My uncle from Hamburg always says - well paid jobs are created only there, where research is done”, Raman said.
“It is a very wise statement”, was her father’s answer. “How was your college life; have you got many friends? You look tired but still you are very handsome. What about the girls running after you?” he grinned.
“Sir, I have friends in both sex and from my parents I have got very high moral values. According to that I am not prepared to seduce a girl or woman even in my mind”, he replied in a clear tone.
“It’s great”, muttered Arunachalam and thought who would be the lucky girl going to share his life. They were talking about Indian politics, finance crisis, the attractions in Singapore and many other things which men normally talk. Arunachalam wondered at the vast knowledge of this young man.

The meals were served and all sat together and ate. It was a wonderful South Indian food with rice, sambar, lady’s-finger, rasam and curd.
“Geetha helped me voluntarily today for the first time and we finished the cooking quickly”, said the mother. He saw for the first time the redness in her face but she had not uttered a word.

After the meals her father asked, “When are you flying back to Chennai?”
“I’m leaving on Sunday that means I have got another three days here in Singapore”, he answered.
“Geetha is leaving on Monday”, her father said.
“I’m going to show him Singapore and I have seen everything at least twice”, she said, “but with yours and mamma’s permission”, told Geetha.
“I have no objection, but my condition is come for the evening meals here”, said the mother.
“It’s Okay for me also”, confirmed her father.

Raman agreed to pick her up next morning at 9 a.m. and Mr. Arunachalam drove him to his hotel.

Other poisons in the Household

Now, we see the other poisons in our houses.

What are the poisons expected in our houses?

These poisons are the substances in our building materials, furniture, soap, cosmetics, substances used to clean the house, disinfections solutions, electronic articles, vessels made up of aluminium, nickel jewellery and nicotine due to smoking. Pesticides are also used in the household to kill mosquitoes or cockroaches. The following substances are mostly used:

Asbestos - mixed with plastic to strengthen them and also mixed with cement to prevent fire spreading. Lung cancer is seen normally after 45 years. All the asbestos buildings are being demolished now in Germany.

Formaldehyde - paints, tobacco smoke and few other plastic products contain formaldehyde. When enough contact is there, irritation of mucus, headache and allergy are possible.

Isothiocyanate - it is present in polyester covering of the floor and polyurethane foam. Strong inhalation leads to irritation of the eyes and isothiocyanate asthma.
.
Solvents - solvents are necessary for the production of gum, paints, artificial leather, cleaning solution for the house and industry etc. Contact or breathing the vapour brings health problems.

Ozone - nowadays it comes from laser printers and Xerox copying machines and can make irritation of the eyes.

Phenols - present in paints and may affect liver and kidney.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons - found in tobacco smoke, fried meats and chimney smoke of industries or burning wastes can cause cancer.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) - floor spreads and foams contain this. They (don’t forget PCBs are a group of 209 organochlorine chemicals) are present in the white paper it is formed during the bleaching process with chlorine. Chlorine is also used to bleach the sanitary napkins for women and these PCBs too. A longer contact with PCBs may spoil the liver.

Organochlorine compounds as pesticides, fungicides etc.

Leather covered furniture – leather tanning is carried out using more than 40 different chemicals and other treatments. Even nowadays pentachlorophenol is used in leather tanning in several countries. The allowed amount is 5 mg/kg. But in several cases it exceeded this limit and persons who have problem with detoxification become sick and this is an environmental illness.

Case study: One of my colleagues bought a new leather sofa set and was very happy. In the weekend she invited her friend and her husband for coffee and cake in the afternoon. All were sitting in the sofa for more than three hours. The visiting woman was not feeling well. She had skin reaction, headache and other neurological problems. She went to the doctor and the problems were still there. Then they came to me and after a personal talk with that woman I ordered the estimation of Pentachlorophenol in her blood. It was 5 times more than the reference value. The owner of the sofa had very low pentachlorophenol in her blood. I have asked the colleague to rub some cotton wool strongly on the side of the sofa and bring it to me. We analysed this and also found very high amount of pentachlorophenol. The sofas were produced in a foreign country. The furniture shop has taken back the sofas and she could select a different one. This is possible in Germany even today.

But the important thing what we must learn from this is, 4 persons were sitting on the sofas. Only one became sick and all the others were not affected. Only in that woman the detoxification system was not working properly and so the problem of excretion from the body and the environmental sickness.

If there is any unexplainable sickness always think about the environmental factors also.

Think of the old North Arcot district with all its leather tanning industries where even the tender coconuts had all these environmental poisons long ago.

Apart from these, metals like aluminium, cadmium, lead, nickel, palladium and others are in our house. Have you seen small children standing in front of the window and licking the painted wood? These paints contain many metals including lead. The taste of the lead is sweet and so the children like this taste. Be careful and intervene immediately in such conditions. Lead is not dangerous to adults, but it makes children bad in their brain work, thus bad ranks in the school. WHO has studied with tens of thousands school going children and have proved it very clearly. This means as long as we are healthy and our detoxification system is working properly, there will be no problem for us. When there is disorder in our detoxification system or we fail to support our system with proper food then, we have really a problem. Individual food is very important here.

Can I do anything to reduce these environmental pollutants in the house?

Don't use too many chemicals and solvents.

Yes, you can do a lot. You can aerate the house by opening the windows regularly. With a wet cloth you can clean the floors to minimise the fine dust particles. Vacuum cleaning will not help because it will scatter the fine dust more.

But, once your house is contaminated with some chemical poison there is no chance to clean it because of the equilibrium between the walls and the air. In that case an expert must renew the walls to remove the poisons.

Why is vacuum cleaning not advisable?

When you do vacuum cleaning there should be no children in that room in order to avoid exposition from dust, excrements of small insects, bacteria and viruses. Small children are normally about 60 to 80 cm tall and in this height also the fine dust and others are scattered. The small children who then get all the dust and poisons excessively become sick. This is one of the reasons of your child’s allergy and other environmental sickness. The enemies of our health are everywhere.

Is there any relationship between dress and environmental poisons?

The colour in our dress may contain azo-dyes which are considered cancerous. If we sweat very much, then the possibility is more to get these substances in our body. Salicylic acid, formaldehyde, metal salts, particularly lead, chromium, nickel and sulphonamide are used to conserve the textiles against insects as well as to give good colours. These could bring contact allergies. The alternative is paraffin emulsion but prolonged contact may cause skin irritation.

Costly wool carpets are soaked in pesticide solution before it is sold. Never buy these.

How did the human beings select their food in the past when they had no chance to analyse?

It was not easy for them to select the correct food, but they observed everything very keenly and carefully. In course of time, sometimes they took years or decades to arrive to the correct conclusion.

In my observation I have seen one thing very carefully when my mother or sister put the mustard seeds in the hot oil, it bursted out and spreaded everywhere, but I could never get an explanation for that. When I came to Germany I had seen that they ate mustard sauce, mild, middle, hot or sweet with grilled pork or meat or sausages. When they ate sausages either in the home or outside, mustard paste was taken in enough quantity. I started to think about our bursting mustard. I found later the reason that mustard neutralises the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) released when fat is burnt at high temperature. It is produced when from the grilled pork the fat drops in the fire, it burns there and produces the PAHs. This happened in a different way in our frying pan but the result was always the same.

The substance which neutralised the poisons was present inside the mustard. They made it a paste and we allowed it to burst, the purpose was same, if we do not break it, the mustard seeds will be excreted along with the faecal waste without being digested. I asked several old Germans to have an explanation for this. The oldest, 96 years old, told me that he had been eating mustard paste since his childhood. Look, how intelligent were our forefathers. They have think and observe much and now we need not think – the industry and others are thinking for us – and we become sick without knowing why. Ask always why and try to find out the answer also.

Why does new furniture smell bad?

Many chemicals are used to impregnate the furniture. The paints or varnish used contain organic solvents which are also dangerous for us. The new ones must be kept open for several days before we use it.

Here I want to give one more good tip. It is applicable to new cars also. Do not close all the windows and sit there with air-conditioner on. You get all the poisons from the new plastic products there. Drive for few months with open windows.

Poisons in our household Cleaning Solutions

Almost we clean everything in our household with chemicals. These are in the form of different solutions and liquids used.

They include:

• WC-cleaners
• Shoe polishers
• To remove the sedimentation of hard water
• To clean the floors, windows, carpets
• To open the blocked pipes, toilets
• As disinfectants
• As antiseptics
• Washing soap and other additive to wash machines
• In insecticides,
• Used in dish washers
• In furniture polishes
• In metal polishers
• In nail polish cleaners
• To clean stains, including paint stains

If we see them carefully then we find these substances are containing strong acids, alkali, oxidation agents, organic solvents and pesticides. These must be kept in places beyond the reach of children.

How toxic are these substances?

The chemicals in our household cleaning products are very toxic. Through inhalation, absorption through the skin or ingestion along with food or water or soft drinks makes us sick.

As a clinical toxicologist I have seen many poisonings with children and sometimes it is lethal.

Whose mistake is this to have excess of poisonous cleaners in our home?

The industry makes overstated advertisement and promises to bring the sky down to the earth for a product of poor quality. In the modern world the alluring advertisements in TV are so effective that you stand suddenly in front of this product in the shop and buy. The law-makers must make laws so that everything, including the toxicity, should be written clearly on the label so that the consumers could avoid this. It is in our hands to make the industries produce safer and poison-free products.

What are the important things I must know now?

Two important things you must know, one is you must know the poisons in your home cleaners and also the toxicity of the poison.

Second thing is you must know the alternative cleaners.

What are the alternative cleaners?

These are the traditional substances we have been using with good results:

• Vinegar
• Baking soda
• Corn starch
• Soap
• Borax
• Lemon juice

Vinegar is made from apple juices, grain or wine and has approximately 5% acetic acid, a mild organic acid. It can dissolve mineral deposits, grease, remove soap and wax build-up, polish some metals and deodorize. Diluted with water it can clean brick or stone.

Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate which is naturally occurring material, present in most organic life. It is mostly used in the non-toxic household cleaning product next to vinegar. It can neutralise acid, deodorize and scrub shiny materials without scratching.

Cornstarch is made from corn and is used to clean windows, polish furniture, shampoo carpets and rugs and to starch clothes.

Soap is a traditional cleanser and can be used in the bathroom, kitchen and laundry.

Borax is sodium borate and it is a naturally occurring mineral best known as water softener and laundry booster. It is also used in all household cleaning.

Lemon juice contains citric acid. It is a deodorizer, used to clean glass and remove stains from aluminium, porcelain and clothes.

If you have problem with ant population, use this non-toxic backing powder and turmeric powder and the ants run away. Never use other chemical poisons. They are dangerous for you, your children and to your environment including your drinking water.

What benefit I have more from these cleaners?

These are non toxic, multi-purpose and cheap to purchase. Television advertisements are the costliest ones, if a cricket player appears in it, it is the costliest and it is you who is going to pay everything. Spend your money, for you, for your family but not for unnecessary things.

We have in Germany a petrol bunk chain which sells petrol and diesel always cheaper than the others. They write in their petrol bunk clearly, “we don’t sponsor sportsmen and so it is cheaper here”.

We have to sponsor our sportsman, but not very excessively.

Is it correct that my house must be always clean or sterile?

It must be clean but not sterile. If it is sterile always people living there are in danger to go out where a lot of bacteria dance always. We also need the minimum contact so that the body could produce the valuable antibodies. That is healthy. I have experienced this problem several times in my carrier.

Clean and then keep it dry which prevents many insects including cockroaches and others to come and breed there.

House lizard is a very useful animal because it eats all the insects inside the house which could give problems to our health.