By Peter Croatto

For allergy sufferers in America, it really is them against the world. And the world has emptied the bench; it’s a blowout.

According to the National Institute of Health and Infectious Diseases (NIHID), more than 50 million Americans suffer from allergic diseases. “A recent nationwide survey found that more than half (54.6 percent) of all U.S citizens test positive to one or more allergens; among specific allergens, dust mite, rye, ragweed, or cockroach caused sensitization in approximately 25 percent of the population.”

Some other statistics from NHID:

• Allergies are the sixth-leading cause of chronic disease in the United States, costing the health care system $18 billion annually. U.S. health care expenditures attributable to sinusitis were about $5.8 billion.
• Two estimates of prevalence of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (hay fever) in the United States are 9 percent and 16 percent. The prevalence of allergic rhinitis has increased substantially over the past 15 years.
• In 2002, approximately 14 million office visits to health care providers were attributed to allergic rhinitis, which is also the most commonly reported chronic disease. It affected nearly 32 million in the United States in 1997.

Another inflammatory problem Americans face is asthma. More than an affliction of nerdy boys named Wendell, it affects 10 to 12 percent of the U.S. population, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Children, minorities, and people of lower socio-economic status are disproportionately affected.

Asthma is the most frequent cause of pediatric emergency room use and hospital admission; it—not chicken pox, the common cold, or a desire to watch daytime TV—is the leading cause of school absences. The economic costs of asthma: $12 billion a year.

Don’t expect that number to go down. According to NIEHS, “Despite improvements in diagnosis and management, and an increased understanding of the epidemiology, immunology, and biology of the disease, asthma prevalence, morbidity, and mortality have progressively increased over the past 15 years.”

How the Uncomfort Happens

The reason why some people suffer terrible allergies and asthma, while others don’t suffer as much or even at all, comes down to the health of the individual’s immune system, said William “Skip” Seroy, president and CEO of InterHealth Nutraceuticals in Benicia, CA. “And, like many other maladies, some people are just naturally predisposed to allergies and asthma [more] than others,” he added. “In addition, allergic reactions can become more prevalent as we age.”

Cheryl Myers, director of health sciences at Enzymatic Therapy (Enzy, Green Bay, WI), said it isn’t so much strength or weakness as it is the immune system being too discriminating. “Some people have very sensitive immune systems,” she said. “They’re more paranoid and recognize a lot more foes than people,” which causes allergic reactions.

It’s not entirely the individual’s fault, as “the environment also plays a role since different people are affected by different antigens,” Seroy said.

Does it ever.

David Hoffman is the herbal advisor for Traditional Medicinals (Sebastopol, CA), the maker of functional teas, including Breathe Easy. He said people with asthma are “like a gun. If you don’t have that genetic gun, the allergen won’t trigger you.” The difficulty in reducing asthma he said is “there’s always a plethora of issues that can trigger an asthmatic attack.” Consequently, there is no universally accepted herb for asthma relief.

And users of that genetic gun are readily available, thanks to air pollution, weather patterns, and pollination, Myers said. “With weather patterns, sometimes you have air movement where it moves across the country fairly rapidly, then stagnant weather patterns [develop], where things get stuck,” she said. “If you have air quality stuck for a while and not diluted, if you’re up against mountains or low-lying areas, then that tends to help to concentrate those substances in the air even further. That’s one issue. That’s why, sometimes, environmental allergies in Los Angeles are a problem and sometimes they aren’t. That’s for the air pollution issue.”

Weather also plays a role in the development of mold—another antigen, or allergen. “If you live in an area where water can accumulate, where there’s high humidity, then you often get large amounts of mold in the atmosphere being blown about,” Myers said. “In the spring and summer when things are most wet, in certain areas, you have a lot of mold.”

The need of plants to spread its genetic material leads to the burden of many Americans, as bees and the wind transport allergic material like ragweed and goldenrod all over the place, Myers said.

Each region of the country has its own times when residents are most affected by allergies. Some allergies are year-round and others are seasonal, so stores need to stock accordingly, said Cameron Southam, brand manager for Botanical Laboratories (Ferndale, WA).

“It is important to understand your specific area’s allergy seasons and promote heavily during these times,” he said. “Specific updates on allergies in specific areas can be obtained through the local news station and newspapers, Pollen.com, and other sources.”

Is This a Prescription, Doc, or Do You Hate Me?

Further frustrating allergy suffers is some OTC and prescription products for allergies and asthma which may alleviate some problems, but not without causing others.

“Most allergy prescription or OTC products are designed to treat the symptoms of allergies using antihistamines,” said Ryan Stirland, vice president of marketing and business development for Xlear, Inc. in Orem, UT. “In addition, while non-drowsy allergy medicine formulas exist, many still have side effects, including drowsiness, which can be more debilitating than the allergy symptoms.

“While histamines create the annoying watery eyes and nose, they are the body’s natural defenses against allergens,” he added. “When antihistamines are consumed, the body’s natural defenses are shut down, and a dry nasal passage is a welcome home to dust and pollen.”

The company offers Xlear Nasal Wash, an all-natural solution that flushes out allergens and pollutants before they trigger allergic reactions. The xylitol helps to draw out moisture and, combined with the saline solution, helps to hydrate and moisturize the nasal passage. Thus, it’s difficult for allergens and pollutants to stick to the nasal tissues.

“Another downside of using conventional remedies is that most are not meant for use on a long-term basis, something that many people with perennial allergies need,” Seroy said. “And another problem with conventional remedies is that they only treat symptoms after they appear; a ‘bonus’ of Aller-7 is that it also works as a preventive by promoting a healthy immune system before it becomes a problem.”

Aller-7, InterHealth’s proprietary ingredient, a patented blend of seven standardized herbal extracts, has been shown to demonstrate potent anti-histaminic, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, and antioxidant activity.

Mark Nathan, national key accounts manager for Gaia Herbs in Brevard, NC, called the new corticosteroids (i.e. Fluticasone, used in Fluonase, and Mometasone) “the lesser of two evils.” Still, “adverse reactions may include headache, nausea, stomach upset, pharyngitis, bleeding from the nose, skin rash, edema of the face and tongue, pruritus, urticaria, bronchospasm, wheezing, and dyspnea, to name a few,” he said.

Gaia Herbs’ Aller-Leaf features a laundry list of herbs to support the healthy functioning of the upper respiratory system. Ingredients include turmeric root, nettle leaf (both of which are certified organic), yarrow flower, and eyebright.

Based upon SPINS data for the year ending December 3, 2005, Gaia Herbs ranked as the number one brand in the Allergy Herbal Formulas Category. “Consumers have increasingly begun looking for natural options for everyday allergic responses,” Nathan said. “Aller-Leaf offers consumers a natural, safe, and effective alternative for maintaining a healthy state.”

Why Go the Natural Route?

Well, for one thing, you’re not going to feel worse than when you started. Eileen Sheets, managing director of Bioforce USA (Ghent, NY), uses her husband, Bioforce USA’s operations director and allergy sufferer Robert, as an example.

The side effects of pharmaceutical and OTC remedies “make him miserable,” Sheets said. But with natural remedies, including Bioforce’s Allergy Relief, “he has none of those side effects.”

Although the homeopathic Allergy Relief is meant for long-term use, Sheets’ husband usually finds relief of his allergy symptoms within 15 minutes. Even though “he knows better,” she quipped, than to use it for immediate relief.

Some natural products are very thorough in their treatment, and with good reason. Not only can what triggers an allergy vary from person to person, not everyone reacts in the same way.

“What A. Vogel [the founder of Bioforce] wanted to do was put together ingredients that address a wide range of symptoms,” Sheets said. “Some may not do a thing for you, but some of those ingredients will be helpful to your particular symptoms Some of these are good for the whole symptom complex and the way the body reacts to things, some are directed at the mucous membranes, some work on the asthmatic condition, some on the inflammation on bronchial area.”

“Unlike pharmaceuticals which contain single compounds and have a targeted mechanism of action, Zyflamend contains 10 whole herbs which work in infinite ways to intelligently support a healthy inflammation response,” said Dr. Taryn Forrelli, director of medical education for New Chapter (Brattleboro, VT). “The herbs in the formula have been safely used by millions of people for thousands of years,” and the product has no known side effects.

The bioAllers line from Botanical Laboratories (Ferndale, WA) features homeopathic products that “relieve allergy symptoms and help reduce the severity of future allergic reactions,” Southam said. The products are said to be the first to feature “homeopathicly prepared allergens,” called allersodes, which allow for the products’ dual action.

Regardless of the remedies’ potency, only so much can be done. “The real problem with allergies is if someone has an active allergy, it’s hard to stop it until you stop the exposure to the allergen,” said Hoffman of Traditional Medicinals. “The first step is to identify the allergen, remove it for a while, and then calm the reaction down…You can train it to be less sensitive.

“I’m not aware of a single herb that will undo the genetic gun image,” said Hoffman, alluding to his earlier image. “A skilled practitioner, whether they be a Western herbalist or Ayurvedic herbalist or homeopathic, could work with an asthmatic person.” However, Hoffman noted, genetic-based allergen triggers can’t be changed. Though herbs can ease the symptoms, they cannot reduce the degree of triggering.

All that the afflicted can do, Hoffman said, is discover what allergens pose a problem. It can be “detective work,” he warned.

In the Store…

Another mystery for companies is in promoting allergy and asthma products.

“It can be quite difficult. You have to provide third-party information that leads it back to that particular product,” Enzy’s Myers said. “It’s difficult with anything for a single application because if you have a product that you’re looking at, let’s say for arthritis in your knees, you can say it supports joint health and people kind of get it. Everything that you try to come up with allergies does get you into a place where it can be a little difficult.”

In Enzy’s case, the problem is a little more complicated. The company’s best product for allergy relief, Petadolex, which contains a butterbur extract, is promoted to help with migraines. In fact, it sells so well in that area that Enzy’s marketing department is a little hesitant over changing the message for fear of confusing customers, Myers said. Also, by hyping its anti-inflammation benefits, Petadolex winds up sounding “a little too much like Ginsu knives,” she half-joked.

For asthma, that aforementioned difficult place might as well be the Gaza Strip. “Asthma is a much more serious condition than allergies and is regulated by FDA as a disease for treatment by prescription drugs,” Southam said. “It is also a much less widespread condition (although the numbers are increasing). Combining these two factors, a company would have to make a serious investment in launching an asthma product. It would require vast amounts of research, testing, and time. There are some companies pursuing asthma products [Bioforce USA and Enzymatic Therapy, two of them], but not every business model is fit to produce this type of product.”

The lack of tricky labeling is why homeopathic products sell so well in this category, especially in the conventional marketplace, said David Browne, director of content services at SPINS, the San Francisco-based information provider for the natural products industry.

Because of the “laws around labeling, homeopathic [products] can make far more specific health claims,” Browne said, and that translates into much bigger sales.

In the natural channel, homeopathic products outsold herbal $4.6 million to $1.7 million in 2005, Browne said. In the natural and conventional channels, total sales for herbal formulas and homeopathic formulas combined for $23.4 million for the 52 weeks ending Dec. 31, 2005. Homeopathic formulas alone were responsible for $21.6 million of that total, he said.

The $23.4 million was up a whopping 43.4 percent from the same period last year, according to SPINScan data. No wonder companies have unveiled promotions and educational outreach opportunities.

Tom Newmark, president of New Chapter, said the company is in the middle of a nationwide media campaign to promote Zyflamend. Specifically, the product is being used at Columbia University Medical School to study its effects on prostate cancer. Dr. Aaron Katz is the director of the study, and explained why he chose Zyflamend in his book, Dr. Katz’s Guide to Prostate Health.

Gaia Herbs is using its Website to reach out to consumers and retailers. The Website includes links to product information sheets and current research updates on PubMed, said Nathan. The site also features “learning tools” just for natural food stores. “Our retailer education training modules are 20-40 minute on-line educational modules utilizing state-of-the-art Macromedia Flash technology and combine audio, video, and graphic elements to reinforce optimal learning,” Nathan said.

Bioforce USA is rolling out a variety of merchandising aids (posters, shelf talkers, mats, and more) to help retailers promote the Bioforce Allergy Relief Zone. Stores can take photos of the promotion and become eligible for prizes. “From all the stores that participate in the promo, we will pick one grand prize winner,” Sheets said. “The prize will be $1,000 cash. There will be two $500 winners and five $100 winners. The winner will be decided very subjectively based on [a short paragraph] about how the promotion worked for them.”

Retailers can contact the company at (800) 641-7555, write to the company at 6 Grandinetti Dr., Ghent, NY 12075, or ask their Bioforce rep. VR