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Allergies and Your Horse
By Herbalist Patti
Duffy-Salmon
What are allergies?
An allergy is basically an over reactive response by the
body's immune system to a substance that is most likely not
harmful.
The immune system has a defense procedure that helps us
fight infection. It can identify "alien substances" and then
the white cells fight off the invaders. In some animals and
in people, the immune system identifies a substance as an
invader when it is not, and the white cells overreact and do
more damage than the actual invading substances.
The substances that cause allergies are allergens. They can
be most anything from mold and pollen to food and insect
bites. The more common responses are sneezing, runny eyes,
coughing, asthma, hay fever, hives, and eczema. The more
extreme allergic reactions are usually associated with food
allergies and stinging insect allergies, both of which can
cause anaphylactic shock.
Anaphylactic shock is when the body starts to shut down on
its own. Sometimes the body can overreact to such an extreme
as to put the body into anaphylactic shock. This is at the
extreme end of an allergic reaction. It's a very dangerous
situation and those who have extreme allergic reactions such
as this will carry an Epi pen. An Epi pen is a self-injector
of epinephrine. Epi is used to basically kick start the
heart and the system again.
One should try to identify the cause of the actual allergic
reaction and attempt to eliminate it. There are allergy
tests that can be done for horses, usually not skin tests
but blood tests. They can be very useful in identifying your
horse's problems.
I do like to treat the body from the inside first, to get to
the root of the problem, so the first line of defense would
be to have a good working immune system. I would not choose
Echinacea if one is trying to help the immune system in this
case, due to the fact that many might be allergic to the
actual plant itself, and this includes your horse. So I
would go with Astragalus and Siberian ginseng instead. Both
are very beneficial to the body.
When dealing with airborne type allergens, such as pollens,
it is a bit more difficult to get away from them. But there
are certain things you can do to help the horse with
allergies. I like to start with some herbs for the lymphatic
system. The lymphatic system is pretty important to the body
and its major function is drainage of the cells, tissues and
organs. Its second function is the lymphatic glands. Many
will find that their lymphatic glands are swollen (clogged)
and not draining properly when they are having an allergic
reaction. This can be the case with your horse as well.
The herb of choice would be CLEAVERS (gallium aparine).
Cleavers is also called "goose grass" or "bedstraw" or
"clivers". I consider it to be one of the best tonic herbs
for the lymphatic system. It contains both alterative and
diuretic type properties. Flushing excess fluid and toxins
from the body is very important.
For skin type allergic reactions, I like to feed garlic
along with some alterative type herbs, such as cleavers,
burdock and red clover. For upper respiratory type reactions
there are many different herbs that may help and it will
depend on the horse's specific allergies.
Herbs that may be needed would be expectorants, alteratives,
anti-catarrhal, febrifuges, and demulcents. Garlic, yarrow
flowers, and peppermint can all help, as can boneset, elder
flowers, mullein leaf, horehound, anise seed, chickweed, and
nettle. Marshmallow root and slippery elm bark are excellent
demulcents that will help to soothe irritated airways.
I have found that Reishi mushroom is also excellent for
allergies, but I don't think it is very cost effective when
treating horses. All the medicinal mushrooms are extremely
expensive, though one could use a mushroom extract instead.
Allergies don't have to make life miserable for you and your
horse. Affording allergies can be difficult, but there are
herbs that can help, so it's always wise to be armed
herbally.
The substances that cause allergies are allergens. They can
be most anything from mold and pollen to food and insect
bites. The more common responses are sneezing, runny eyes,
coughing, asthma, hay fever, hives, and eczema. The more
extreme allergic reactions are usually associated with food
allergies and stinging insect allergies, both of which can
cause anaphylactic shock.
Anaphylactic shock is when the body starts to shut down on
its own. Sometimes the body can overreact to such an extreme
as to put the body into anaphylactic shock. This is at the
extreme end of an allergic reaction. It's a very dangerous
situation and those who have extreme allergic reactions such
as this will carry an Epi pen. An Epi pen is a self-injector
of epinephrine. Epi is used to basically kick start the
heart and the system again.
One should try to identify the cause of the actual allergic
reaction and attempt to eliminate it. There are allergy
tests that can be done for horses, usually not skin tests
but blood tests. They can be very useful in identifying your
horse's problems.
I do like to treat the body from the inside first, to get to
the root of the problem, so the first line of defense would
be to have a good working immune system. I would not choose
Echinacea if one is trying to help the immune system in this
case, due to the fact that many might be allergic to the
actual plant itself, and this includes your horse. So I
would go with astragalus and Siberian ginseng instead. Both
are very beneficial to the body.
When dealing with airborne type allergens, such as pollens,
it is a bit more difficult to get away from them. But there
are certain things you can do to help the horse with
allergies. I like to start with some herbs for the lymphatic
system. The lymphatic system is pretty important to the body
and its major function is drainage of the cells, tissues and
organs. Its second function is the lymphatic glands. Many
will find that their lymphatic glands are swollen (clogged)
and not draining properly when they are having an allergic
reaction. This can be the case with your horse as well.
The herb of choice would be CLEAVERS (gallium aparine).
Cleavers is also called "goose grass" or "bedstraw" or
"clivers". I consider it to be one of the best tonic herbs
for the lymphatic system. It contains both alterative and
diuretic type properties. Flushing excess fluid and toxins
from the body is very important.
For skin type allergic reactions, I like to feed garlic
along with some alterative type herbs, such as cleavers,
burdock and red clover. For upper respiratory type reactions
there are many different herbs that may help and it will
depend on the horse's specific allergies.
Herbs that may be needed would be expectorants, alteratives,
anti-catarrhals, febrifuges, and demulcents. Garlic, yarrow
flowers, and peppermint can all help, as can boneset, elder
flowers, mullein leaf, horehound, anise seed, chickweed, and
nettle. Marshmallow root and slippery elm bark are excellent
demulcents that will help to soothe irritated airways.
I have found that Reishi mushroom is also excellent for
allergies, but I don't think it is very cost effective when
treating horses. All the medicinal mushrooms are extremely
expensive, though one could use a mushroom extract instead.
Allergies don't have to make life miserable for you and your
horse. Affording allergies can be difficult, but there are
herbs that can help, so it's always wise to be armed
herbally. |
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