Fraser Smith, ND, MATD
Assistant Dean of Naturopathic Medicine and Associate Professor, National University of Health Sciences
“Allergies and asthma arise from a complex interplay of genes, food introduction, breast feeding or not, the gut and of course the greater environment. Some patients are hard-wired to develop allergies to pollen and mold. This can cause miserable symptoms, and is sometimes the real culprit driving asthma, but not always. It’s important to keep in mind that diet, home environment, stress, hydration, sleep and chemical exposure all play a role in how reactive someone is. Although allergy is definitely mediated by the immune system in well understood ways, we also want to examine someone’s toxic burdens in terms of how highly fired their system is from day to day. The Environmental Protection Agency has more than 85,000 chemicals listed in its registry, and processed foods contain many of them. Without oversimplifying matters, we do have to think about the impact of all this on someone’s allergic experience. As a naturopathic doctor, I think about the whole person and how to restore health and, in that sense, allergies as sometimes a symptom of deeper problems I can help someone with.”
