Many people unfortunately know all too well what it’s like to suffer with allergies.
There can be several root causes of what may trigger an allergic response in the body. Many times this means avoiding a certain food such as peanuts or seafood. For others this could bring about a lot of symptoms in the Spring or Fall seasons when the pollen is in full force. But for folks with the Alpha Gal allergy, this can mean major changes in many areas, as it affects them not only physically, but also socially and even financially.
Alpha Galactose 1,3 is a carbohydrate found in mammal meat and many mammal derived products. This allergy is very unique due to the fact that this allergy is “vector borne” meaning a tick bite appears to be the cause of the affliction.
It was originally believed that the tick would have previously fed on a mammal host, collected the Alpha Gal carbohydrate while feeding and then would transfer it to their next victim, the human host. A more recent study, however suggests that the tick may not necessarily have to feed on a mammal host recently to expose the human host to the condition which means the likelihood of being subjected to the condition could be more prevalent than previously thought. However, one thing is quite certain, when the tick injects the carbohydrate into the victim the immune system then launches an assault on the Alpha Gal carbohydrate. Unfortunately, the immune system continues to do this again when confronted with AG in meat or mammal by-products when it is later consumed.
This allergy can vary widely from person to person as far as reactions and triggers. Some merely avoid eating the mammal meat itself but on the other end of the spectrum others may have dramatic blood pressure drops and other serious reactions by merely being exposed to mammal being cooked or touching a surface that has mammal residue. The allergy has been renamed Alpha Gal Syndrome due to other symptoms that can often manifest such as joint pain and fatigue.
New Hope from an Old Friend
Within the ancient practice of Traditional Acupuncture there is an area called Auricular Acupuncture which involves areas of the outer ear that have been found to correspond with certain organs of the body. A French neurologist named Dr. Paul Nogier MD discovered this correlation and in 1956 it was recognized by the World Health Organization for being a valid treatment for various health ailments. Dr Nogier surmised that this treatment could also have an effect on allergy sufferers even though no one had ever done any type of work connecting the Auricular treatment and allergies before this time. Though Dr. Nogier introduced an area called the allergy point, treating Nogier’s allergy point only yielded partial and temporary relief of allergy symptoms.
In 2014, and after years of trials Dr. Nader Soliman expanded upon Nogier’s work and introduced a novel approach for addressing allergy symptoms. Dr. Soliman introduced a groundbreaking technique called the SAAT or Soliman Auricular Allergy Treatment.
The Western Medical community approaches the body from a chemical standpoint with its diagnostic testing and pharmaceutical drugs. This approach addresses allergy though chemical and drug antagonism while Accupuncture and the SAAT technique are energetic in nature and aim at correcting the energetic imbalance that exists.
What happens during the SAAT session?
The evaluation is non invasive and quick, and the needle placement is virtually painless.
The practitioner will conduct bio energetic testing which will in part utilize a very fine tuned method of muscle testing to first see whether the body is “weak” when presented with this substance and then pinpoint the exact spot on the outer ear that corresponds with that particular substance. If you know you are allergic to a particular substance you may bring a sample of this in with you or ask your practitioner ahead of time if a sample is available with them in a small filter or vial. Additional technique is highly sensitive and purely energetic in nature and known as auricular medicine that was initially introduced by Dr. Paul Nogier and later refined by Dr. Nader Soliman. Both techniques will identify a corresponding point on the SAZ (Soliman Allergy Zone) related to the allergen. A tiny needle is inserted in a rather painless manner, the needle is then secured and left in place for three weeks. The needles are removed easily by the patient and if the allergen did not originally cause an anaphylactic reaction the patient may then begin to expose themselves very slowly over a course of time giving the body time to adjust.
Current clinical trials show that individuals enjoy long relief of symptoms related specifically to the allergen that has been addressed. Multiple allergens may be addressed simultaneously.
This has been an absolute game changer for those that suffer with Alpha Gal Syndrome. Prior to SAAT , people afflicted with this syndrome had no hope of a treatment other than avoidance of mammal and additional tick bites. With SAAT treatment many of them are now unaffected by fumes and are able to slowly and carefully consume mammal. The SAAT method can also help other allergy sufferers for practically any allergen from environmental allergies to foods such as wheat, corn, seafood and really anything! What a breakthrough!
Two things must be noted here:
1) The patient does not come into direct contact with the allergen during the evaluation. The allergen is in a glass vial and is never directly exposed to the patient.
2) The patient is encouraged to continue to carry their EpiPen and/or other allergy medications in the event that a reaction does reoccur.
The Scientific side
Dr Nogier determined that the Auricular method of Acupuncture could have an effect on allergies, but Dr. Nader Soliman took the foundation of his work and perfected it to the highly successful treatment that it is today. In a comparative study conducted in 2014 in which 80 participants took part, 40 patients were subjected to the Nogier method of Auricular Accupuncture and 40 patients received the Soliman Auricular Allergy Treatment. All types of allergies were treated in this study including those caused by foods and environmental factors. After a period of 24 weeks most of the Nogier treatment participants returned to an allergic status, but the SAAT treatment was by far more successful than the Nogier treatment.
Dr. Donald Liebell, of Virginia Beach, has treated many AG patients with the SAAT method in his office and trained personally under Dr. Soliman. At present time, Dr. Liebell is documenting case studies of over 300 Alpha Gal Syndrome patients in his clinic to be presented in future medical journals. His patients, along with those that have received the treatment from other practitioners, look forward expectedly to reading his findings.
Dr. Liebell and Dr Soliman believe (especially with Alpha Gal Syndrome), that there are underlying factors that caused the body to be predisposed to getting the allergy in the first place. There are other treatments offered in their clinics that address the immune systems natural ability to eradicate these tick borne illnesses or other underlying root causes holistically. Dr. Liebell has authored a book entitled ‘Biting Back’ that goes into greater detail about these conditions and how they are addressed, a link to which is noted in the resource section.
Up until now, the only advice from doctors for treating this syndrome or even other allergies has been avoidance. When exposure and subsequent reactions occur, they prescribe chemical substances that have side effects and merely offer temporary relief. We now have hope thanks to these doctors willing to think outside of the box and look at safe options that can offer us so much more then past solutions…..they offer us hope and relief!
Resources
If you or someone you care about are interested in this treatment for relief from Alpha Gal or any other allergy you may contact:
Dr Nader Soliman at Alternative Medical Center (301)251-2335
Dr. Donald Liebell at the Liebell Clinic (757)631-9799
Alpha Gal SAAT remission facebook group- This facebook group has personal accounts of others undergoing SAAT and also a list of providers by state.
Dr. Donald Liebell’s book: Biting Back
New Findings on AG transmission: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190224100433.htm
Great article! Looking forward to more!