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Allergies and Asthma
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It all started because of ear infections My wife is trained as a special education teacher; she teaches children who are not able to learn in the normal classroom. She knows that something bad happens when children, especially before age two, have recurrent ear infections. She knows this because when she asked her class, "Who has had tubes put in their ears?" everyone raised their hand. Tubes are inserted into the ear drum in children with recurring ear infections in the attempt to reduce the fluid, that tries to wash out all of these infections, from the middle ear. This procedure sometimes helps to reduce the frequency of infections, but it is designed to help with hearing. Language, a critical part early learning, is built by auditory input during the first two years of life, the same period when ear infections are most common. If this input is dampened by infection or fluid in the middle ear during this important period it takes persistent and determined effort on the part of parents and teachers to overcome the deficit. Luotonen has demonstrated that even when properly treated recurrent otitis during the first two years results in significant impairment in reading ability up to the age of nine. Bennett followed children longer and showed significant learning and social problems extending up to age eighteen. As physicians we tend to ignore this problem of fluid in the middle ear; if there is no infection the fluid eventually does go away. In the meantime it contributes substantially to the population of children in our Special Education programs and to the expense that goes along with them. This educational expense is not even considered into figures showing the costs of ear infections, but ear infections are one of the most common cause of Special Education services. And they are preventable. My wife wouldn't let me ignore it. And how it grew Three months later Heather’s dad suggested that I get the spray patented, which I did. I also went to the FDA and told them I had a way to wash the nose. They said, "We don’t have a category for nose wash. What does that do?" When I explained the benefits they said it was a drug. There is no economical way that a common safe food substance can be a drug so this is only a way to wash your nose. If washing your hands is effective in reducing communicable diseases, washing the nose is more effective. About a year later the local paper ran a story about Heather’s ear infections. As a result I had a lot of parents come with their children from all over the state and some from other states. Their concerned grandparents, living in our town, told their children about Heather and how cleaning her nose stopped her ear infections. I saw these children one time so it can’t be considered a proper scientific study. About a year later I was able to contact ten of these families. Prior to washing their noses the parents of these children reported an average of 0.86 ear infections a month over the previous 5 months. Over an average of 11 months of washing the nose the incidence dropped to 0.06 – a 93% decrease. In addition, of the seven ear infections that did occur, 3 were in one child and 3 occurred when use of the spray lapsed for a period of time. The way to treat ear infections is to prevent them and the way to prevent them is to wash the nose regularly. The second child I used this on was John Michael. His mother was also a special education teacher. John Michael had already had two sets of ventilation tubes. After the second set came out the eardrum did not heal so he needed surgery to correct that. And he still had the condition called chronic suppurative otitis media, which is persistent fluid in the middle ear not associated with infection. This is the type of problem that eventually goes away as the child gets older. John took longer and kept having problems. There is no treatment for this except waiting or putting in another set of tubes. There is some indication now that tubes do not really help the hearing and language problems that accompany this fluid. John’s mother was vigorous in spraying his nose. Three days later he gagged and vomited a huge amount of mucus and was better from that time on. The volume on the TV went down, he was better at discriminating phonemes and the dark areas under his eyes went away. And two weeks later his tympanogram was normal. This is a picture of John Michael after he began spraying his nose.
Sinus infections are similar to ear infectionsBoth Jerry and I used to have re-occurring sinus infections. I have used saline off and on for the past twenty years and found it to reduce the frequency of my infections a little. I began washing my nose with the xylitol and I had Jerry use saline. We were away at a conference when she got her last sinus infection. Now she is using the xylitol spray in her nose too and we have both been free of any further sinus infections – four years and counting. Another person got relief with the xylitol spray. After several surgeries to treat her sinus problems she began washing her nose regularly. She had a cleansing episode like John Michael that led to immediate relief. She thinks it is a miracle. There have been several people with severe sinus disease who have told me that using this spray didn’t help. These people have usually had several operations and been on numerous broad-spectrum antibiotics. I have cultured lots of Staph and some fungal infections from these people. The best advice for this type of person is to use hyperosmolar xylitol spray several times a day to try to help with the washing, be liberal in culturing when the area gets irritated, and try to stay away from the broad spectrum antibiotics that kill everything and let fungal infections begin. Grapefruit seed extract, now used as a preservative for this spray, is effective against both staph and fungi. So is colloidal silver. Both of these are available in spray form that can be used to treat these particular nasal problems. Once treated and removed, using xylitol spray should keep your nose clean. Allergies
Allergies and our response to them are most of the time treated as if they were not important. We seldom think twice about taking an antihistamine or using a nasal steroid. Margie Profet is a biologist who thinks differently. She points out that many allergens are structurally similar to toxins and that, as we repeatedly point out in this site, the runny nose is a defense. It is trying to wash the toxin/allergen from the nose. While our food supply and environment is probably safer and freer from toxins than it was for our ancestors we still feel that honoring our body's defenses is the best policy. The section on evolutionary medicine has more on the difference between defenses, that help our bodies deal with our environment, and other symptoms that are safer to treat. Allergens also come in different sizes and shapes. some of them are smaller and more soluble. They are able to get into our system faster. Others like the cat dander that gave Joe his problem are less soluble. Joe was able to control his allergies by washing his nose every four hours. My son, who is allergic to some grasses needs to carry his bottle with him when he is outside in the fields and wash his nose every hour. For people like him who can't otherwise avoid their allergen desensitization is probably the best option. For parents with infants who are interested in preventing problems early exposure to a farm environment is significantly associated with less allergy and asthma.
After my experience with Becka I used it on other asthmatic patients. One of the first was an 11-year old boy, with no prior history of asthma, who came to my office wheezing with a peak flow of 150. Peak flow measures how much air a person can force out and gives a rough idea of the openness of the airway. His peak flow improved with bronchodilator therapy, so I gave him a prescription for albuterol and a bottle of the spray and told him to spray his nose regularly for a few days. He took the bottle to the school nurse and every class break he would spray his nose. He did not get the albuterol. His peak flow on the next three days went from the 150 to 250, to 350, and to 450, which was normal for his size.
What is asthma? Most people know asthma as not being able to breathe. This suffocating feeling is caused by the muscles that surround our bronchial tubes. Something happens to stimulate these muscles and when they get irritated they constrict and close down our airway. We know several several things from our scientific and clinical studies with asthma.
Medical researchers have analyzed the mechanism behind the nasal-bronchial reflex and developed a variety of drugs that modifies this reflex. We have bronchodilators that reverse the broncho-constriction. We have leukotriene antagonists and inhibitors that interfere with a part of this reflex, and steroids that turn much of it off. And when someone is having an asthma attack we need to use these drugs. But let's take a step back and look at what we know about asthma and the immune system. The following is not generally known or even considered by the medical profession. They are still focusing on how the broncho-constriction is triggered and how to turn it off. Once we see that cleaning the nose addresses the source of asthma the following conclusions become common sense. First of all the immune system is designed to keep us healthy, and while it can occasionally kill us (further discussed in the section on evolutionary medicine and oral rehydration), it does this primarily to protect us from what it considers a greater evil. Reflexes in the body are generally there to protect us. Our pupillary reflex closes the eye and protects it from too much light and our gag reflex protects us from aspirating food. The nasal-bronchial reflex that triggers asthma protects our lungs from the pollutants in our nose. Consider that the triggers for asthma are chronic infections in the sinuses as well as allergies and viral respiratory infections, all of which may be considered significant dangers by our immune system. This can be especially so when we live in a clean urban environment and have not been exposed to the normal bacteria, pollens and molds that are prevalent in rural and farming environments. A naive immune system that has not been prioritized by such noxious exposure is more likely to consider allergens or irritants of lesser significance to be real dangers. If such an immune system is unable to get rid of nasal irritants by washing them out then at least the nasal-bronchial reflex allows it to protect the lungs from what it considers a real danger. And that, I believe, is what happens with asthma. And that is why washing the nose is such an effective means of preventing asthma. It addresses the source of the problem. The medical examiner of Dade County, Florida did a series of autopsies on people who had been observed drowning (they were not killed elsewhere and dumped in the water). About 20% of these people had dry lungs; the water in their nose prompted such a profound laryngeal and broncho spasm that they could not breathe in the water. They died of asthma that actually prevented them from aspirating the water into their lungs and drowning in the normal sense of the word. I recently attended a conference entitled Rethinking the Pathogenesis of Asthma (Keystone Symposium, Feb. 2002, Santa Fe, NM) where I presented some of these ideas. One of the speakers was Stephen Holgate, one of the world's authorities on the origins of asthma. He pointed out in his presentation that we have gone for thirty years with no new treatment for asthma, that it is caused by injury to the airway, and that what we need is a way to protect the airway from this injury. That, I told him later, was what regularly washing your nose does. This is reiteration but it is important. For people who are not familiar with spraying the nose the best reminder is ‘When you spray your nose look at your toes. I like to use two sprays in each nostril and aim one back the nose – aiming at the back of your head, and one more directed upward – aimed at the top of the head. For most people doing this twice a day is sufficient to keep the nose clean. If it gets challenged you can use more, even every hour, without any problems. Using this spray every hour, 24 hours a day, in both nostrils, will deliver about half a plums worth of xylitol. Babies are best treated in the same fashion. Infants and children that go to day care should use it more frequently, because they get a lot more contamination. The most important thing to remember about using this spray is to do it regularly. By far the biggest problem I have seen is that people will use it for a while and then stop. Soon they are back with the same problems they had before. The children in Belize had to chew the gum every day for two years. It takes lots of talking to negotiate with bacteria and it is best done on a regular basis when there are not too many of them. Keep the spray in a place where it is handy – on the kitchen table, the water cooler, by the bathroom sink where you brush your teeth. Get more than one bottle and keep one in your purse or pocket, in the car and at work. Make the simple task of washing your nose a regular habit. A few people who use this say it burns. This is more likely if you get a stream instead of a spray. Make sure you get a spray when you squeeze the bottle. If you tilt your head back to spray you will get a stream of water go down your nose – not recommended. Another reason for this burning sensation seems to be related to sores in the nose that are associated with Staph infections. If you have persisting problems ask your doctor to do a culture of your nose and treat the problem. The best and least expensive way I have seen to treat Staph is to put some "Bactroban" in a bottle of saline nasal spray and use it as described above. Five grams dissolves in a bottle of "Ocean". You will need to see your doctor for this treatment. Alternatives available at your health food store are sprays with either colloidal silver or grapefruit seed extract, both of which kill most of the offending bacteria. The problem is both these sprays and the antibiotic kill good bacteria as well as the problem ones so when you finish four or five days of treatment make sure that you regularly wash your nose to insure that only good bacteria return. Return to HOME Continue reading about How the Nose Cleans itself References:
The spray described in these pages is not a drug. This means that the people manufacturing this spray cannot advertise what the spray does to prevent disease and illness. The spray only helps to clean your nose. The benefits come from a clean nose. The only way people will learn about this practical and sensible way to help the immune system wash pollutants from the back of the nose is by interested people, like you, sharing this information.
If you have family or friends with any of these problems, they may benefit greatly from your sharing this information with them. Links in the other sections, referring to a person or study, will take you to a Medline summary, from the National Library of Medicine, of the article in question. This spray is protected by United States and international patents. While careful reading of these pages will tell you how to mix this spray yourself we request that you do not sell such spray on the open market. Such sales would be prohibited by the above mentioned patents. Disclaimer: All material provided in this web site is provided for educational purposes in the hope of improving our general health. Access of this web site does not create a doctor-patient relationship nor should the information contained on this web site be considered specific medical advice with respect to a specific patient and/or a specific condition. Copy sections of this page and discuss them with your physician to see if they apply to your own symptoms or medical condition. Dr. Jones specifically disclaims any liability, loss or risk, personal or otherwise, that is or may be incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of use or application of any of the information provided on this web site.
A. H. 'Lon' Jones D.O.
812 West 8th St. Suite 2A Plainview, Texas 79072 Phone (806) 291-0700 Fax (806) 293-8229 |
The first person I used this on with allergies was my grandson
Joe. He was allergic to grandmother’s cat and they were due for a
visit. My daughter called and asked what to do. I gave her all of
the normal things to do to try to avoid exposure: shampoo the carpets,
keep the cat outside, reserve a close motel room in case, and stock
up on antihistamines. And I sent her a bottle of the spray. She used
it about every four hours and Joe had no problems except when he
first woke up after a night’s rest when mom noticed some swelling
around the eyes. This was gone about 30 minutes after the first spray.
Dad took the kids back for another visit several months later and
was there for about four hours when Joe's face started swelling.
He called my daughter and asked her to "Fedex the spray." After a
night elsewhere they were able to resume the visit with regular use
of the spray. Joe, like many other children with allergies, has developed
asthma and has an inhaler at home for bronchodilator treatments.
He has begun washing his nose regularly
and finds that three times a day, with more on occasion when he gets
challenged, is enough to keep him clear. It was also enough to eliminate
problems with grandma’s cat during a recent visit. This is a picture
of Joe. 
Becka was the first person with asthma to wash her nose.
She is Jerry’s cousin’s daughter. It helps to have lots of family
when something like this comes along. Becka’s mother heard about
Heather and wanted some of the spray for her son who had lots of
ear problems. When I described what it does she asked if it would
help Becka too. I knew it wouldn’t hurt. Becka was on five different
medications for her asthma, she was getting a shot from her doctor
weekly, and she was in the ER about every 6 weeks. Mom sprayed her nose regularly
three times a day. About a week later Becka had an episode of cleansing,
like John Michael, where she got rid of all the mucus in her nose.
The next week she did not have any trouble with her asthma and a
week later mom took her off all of her asthma medication. Six months
later she was active playing basketball and doing gymnastics without
any trace of her asthma. A year and a half later Becka had another
asthma attack while she was visiting family in Phoenix. She had stopped
washing her nose regularly
some time before. I suspect that Becka will have to repeat her earlier
experience again and use it more regularly if she wants her nose to
stay clean and not trigger her asthma.
Cora is my last example. Cora has had diabetes and asthma for about
twenty years, long enough for her airway to get remodeled so that
it is always narrower than normal. She has been on multiple medications
for her asthma, including steroids that makes her diabetes harder
to manage. She began using the spray regularly about a year
ago and has not had an asthma attack since. She is not taking any
of her asthma medications. Her peak flow remained at 150 to 200 for
about 6 months, but was 350 after a year of regular use of the spray.