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MUSCLE TESTING FOR
ALLERGIES, Part 1 cont'd
The
Medical Model: antigen and antibody
According to
the traditional medical view, allergy develops as a result of
repeated or excessive exposure to a specific substance, or
antigen. In response to this substance, the body produces
proteins known as antibodies which specifically match the
antigen in question. When the body is exposed to a certain
antigen, it produces huge quantities of the corresponding
antibody, which lock onto the antigen molecules, triggering
chemical reactions in the body's cells to disable or destroy
the antigen. It is these chemical reactions which are
responsible for allergic reactions such as swelling, pain, itching,
redness, or the secretion of
mucus.
The
antigen-antibody model of allergy was introduced into
medicine in the 1920s, based largely on research on inhaled
allergic substances (pollens, molds, etc.), which often do
involve antibody reactions in the blood. However, it soon
became evident that there were many cases, especially
involving foods and chemicals, in which it was not possible
to demonstrate an antigen-antibody reaction.
 These environmental
sensitivities became the province of clinical ecology,
a new field pioneered by physicians such as Dr.
Randolph. Because conventional medicine clung to the
antigen-antibody model to explain all allergy, it has
been unable to deal with many forms of allergies, yet
refuses to recognize the alternative approaches which
work in these cases.
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Although
clinical ecology has introduced many valuable tools for
identifying and treating allergy, its testing methods
may still miss some allergic reactions, and its theory
does not explain why the body becomes allergic in the
first place. To understand what it is about the
allergic body that is different from the non-allergic
one, we must look at the body in terms of the energy
that flows through it.
It is
difficult to talk about energy in our culture because
we do not have a precise vocabulary for describing it.
Many words have been used in various cultures to
describe the vital energy that suffuses all living
things — Ch’i in China, Ki in Japan, prana in Hinduism.
In the West, this same energy is sometimes referred to
as the life force or vital force, or vital
energy.
According
to the Chinese system of medicine, the Ch’i
energy flows along specific pathways in the body,
known as meridians. Sickness is viewed as a
derangement of the energy flow along the
meridians: if the energy flow can be restored to
normal, good health will return. Thus, in
acupuncture, needles are inserted at specific
point along the meridians to affect the energy
flow, and hence to influence the person's mental
and physical health.
Research
in the West has shown that the meridians do have a
physical reality. Using radioactive tracers or
sensitive instruments, scientists have been able to
locate and trace the meridians and specific acupuncture
points. It has also been shown that acupuncture also
apparently releases endorphins, the morphine-like brain
hormones involved in pain control and sometimes given
responsibility for the so-called placebo
response.
The body's
energy is not confined to the energy that flows through
the meridians. Every cell in the body is a bundle of
energy — as modern physics helped us to recognize.
Energy is involved in every process in our bodies,
including the biochemical changes within our cells. In
this sense, any disease or malfunction, including
allergy, is really an energy disturbance. This energy
is a more fundamental life characteristic than
tissue.
When allergy
is present, it means that the flow of energy is blocked,
disturbed, or unbalanced, and therefore that the
biochemical processes are not proceeding
properly.
An
Alternative Approach to
Allergy, Theron Randolph. M.D. and
Ralph Moss. Ph.D., Bantam Books, New York,
1982.
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