Lets consider the evidence that allergies are not diseases at all, but instead are the result of conditioned response. 

Perhaps the first thing to do is to notice that the allergen itself cannot harm the body.  The medicine that a person takes to suppress the symptoms connected with the allergy do not immunize the way a vaccine does, nor kill the invader the way antibiotics do.  The allergen is still present in the personas body, but the body's response is disabled by the medication. 

Imagine what would happen to the person if they had pneumonia and the doctor gave an immune suppressant.  Or what if a person had mumps or measles and the doctor gave a medicine to limit the body's natural response.  The outcome would not be good.

Frequently the treatment for an allergy is injections of the allergen.  Again, consider the likely outcome of a doctor injecting additional pneumonia bacteria into a patient suffering from pneumonia. 

No, allergens do not harm the body directly; it is the body's immune system response that causes the discomfort.  It could be compared to the “one-trial learning” that produces a phobia.  The body has a phobic response to the presence of the allergen.  Or, one could say that the immune system has a virtual panic attack at the presence of the allergen and overreacts with a full-fledged counterattack.  This overreaction can be fatal in those with bee sting allergies, so we should not under rate the seriousness of the panic attack.

If a person were shopping in a large mall, and came to a bakery cooking bread, cookies, or cinnamon rolls, the scent of the goodies cooking might well cause the mouth to water.  The person will have no say in this happening: it is a conditioned response.

Walking further along the mall, the person might encounter a flower shop with roses out front by the door.  If the person has an allergy to roses, the eyes and nose might begin to water. The person will have no say in this happening: it is a conditioned response.

Why do people never go to the doctor for allergy medicine for their “allergy” to the scent of cookies or cinnamon rolls, when they do go for the “allergy” to roses?  It is because the association to the goodies is pleasant.  Past experiences were that the food was tasty.  Maybe it was eaten with friends or family around the table: the memories are good.

With the roses we find the association is unpleasant.  Perhaps the person had a favorite aunt when he/she was young who lived nearby, and she loved roses.  Her backyard was full of them, and they were frequently in vases in the house.  In the many visits, the person never had a problem with the roses.  But then the aunt died suddenly.  At the funeral, there were roses all around the casket, and maybe it was even an open-casket funeral.  The person is very sad and cries at the loss.  And the next week, there is an allergy to roses.

In this case, the roses evoke a memory of the loss of the favorite aunt, and the symptoms of crying appear.  Notice that just the sight of roses, or even pictures of roses, may be enough to bring on the symptoms.  And why not, the roses were in view at the time of the upset, just as the scent of the roses was present.  (This is one of the things that has mystified doctors who have a traditional understanding of allergies as a medical issue.  How can just looking at a picture of the source of the allergen evoke the immune response when the allergen itself is not present?)

Perhaps you remember being a teen-ager, having a special sweetheart, and “our song”.  When that song played, it evoked strong emotions.  A month after a painful breakup, that same song still evokes strong emotions, but ones of anger or sadness.  What once brought feelings of love and closeness, now bring on tears of sorrow.  Since springtime is the time that love blossoms, those feelings may also be associated with the various pollens that are present in the background.  They cause no problem when love is fresh, but may bring on “weepy” eyes and the stuffy nose of hay fever symptoms once the love has been lost.  We can consider hay fever symptoms to be suppressed crying. This is why hay fever has been called the “crying syndrome”.

It is usually the case that people develop allergies as they go through life.  Which is to say that they didn't always have the allergic reaction.  And most often, one can elicit from the sufferer when it started.  With a little effort, the person can usually recall what was going on just before the symptoms were first noticed.  Often, just identifying the conditioning event is sufficient to interrupt the conditioning and the response ceases to occur.

This is true for cat allergy, dog allergy, all pet allergies, and even mold allergies.

If you are having allergy symptoms even after reading this, please call for an appointment.  There are a number of techniques that serve to interrupt the conditioned response, often in less than an hour.  Food allergies are sometimes a bit more resistant, and may take an additional half-hour of work.
 
 

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