Allergies

[minna]

The percentage of children with allergies are on the rise. There are more reported cases of food allergies in schools, asthma is on the rise and in particular dangerous peanut allergy is much more common than 10 years ago.

So what do you think the reason for this is? Are we becoming more hyper-sensitive due to our improvement in hygene, ie. 'over-cleaness'? Is it just a genetic problem that is just magnified due to additives and over processing of our food? Or is it something else?

Do you have an allergy? If you have children, does she or he have an allergy?

I have asthma (my father does too, while my mother has hayfever) I am also allergic to alot of medicine due to my genetic condition. (G6PD deficiency)

[Jegroeg]

I subscribe to the hygene theory. The healthies people I know played in the dirt as children. Anecdotally, of course. I think there is growing evidence in the scientific community.

[Jegroeg]

I hit the wrong button and posted before I was ready.
I had asthma as a kid when I lived downwind of NYC. No one else in the family had ever had a problem with allergies. When I left home and went to Montana at 19 I never had another problem until years later when I emptied a vacuum cleaner and inhaled some dust. I used to have a curious histamine reaction to trauma. A scratch would result in a huge welt. and a minor hit to the lip, for example, would result in a massive swelling reminiscent to a mugging. That has also passed but much more recently. Obviously I had mast cell problems. Can't say it is genetic since there have been no history in either side of my family for as far back as can be remembered by my grandparents recollections.
The new treatment for autoimune and allergy problems by infecting sufferers with intestinal parasites is very interesting. Makes sense. The parasite infuses its host with mediators to supress the immune response for its own benefit.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by minna

The percentage of children with allergies are on the rise. There are more reported cases of food allergies in schools, asthma is on the rise and in particular dangerous peanut allergy is much more common than 10 years ago.

So what do you think the reason for this is? Are we becoming more hyper-sensitive due to our improvement in hygene, ie. 'over-cleaness'? Is it just a genetic problem that is just magnified due to additives and over processing of our food? Or is it something else?

Do you have an allergy? If you have children, does she or he have an allergy?

I have asthma (my father does too, while my mother has hayfever) I am also allergic to alot of medicine due to my genetic condition. (G6PD deficiency)

Oh yeah! Deathly nut allergy for me, and I have read that a significant number of the autistic suffer nut allergies. I took weekly injections for years for the inhalant allergies and suffer very little from them these days.
Now that I think about it, mothers who keep their babies 'too' clean has also been suggested as a contributing factor to developing autism.

[maikeru]

Originally Posted by minna

The percentage of children with allergies are on the rise. There are more reported cases of food allergies in schools, asthma is on the rise and in particular dangerous peanut allergy is much more common than 10 years ago.

So what do you think the reason for this is? Are we becoming more hyper-sensitive due to our improvement in hygene, ie. 'over-cleaness'? Is it just a genetic problem that is just magnified due to additives and over processing of our food? Or is it something else?

Do you have an allergy? If you have children, does she or he have an allergy?

I have asthma (my father does too, while my mother has hayfever) I am also allergic to alot of medicine due to my genetic condition. (G6PD deficiency)

I have minor allergies (sneezing) to pollen, and possibly to something in regular milk, which causes me a fever and discomfort, and if I eat parmesan cheese, burning fevers and abdominal cramps, so much so that I become bedridden for 1-3 days. (I had two attacks last summer when I ate at a friend's place and we put heavy parmesan cheese on our pasta. Almost had to go to the emergency room.) I don't have problems with other cheeses or organic milk, strangely enough.

First, I don't think this is largely a genetic problem, because I don't think the overall genetics of developed countries have changed so quickly in a few generations. Similar arguments have been proposed for obesity, ADHD, autism, etc. I don't buy it. Unless the majority of the population died and left only those with affected, then there shouldn't be a major change in the overall gene pool (unless by mass immigration, for example).

Second, I think there are many reasons why allergies are more common. I wouldn't be able to list them all but I'll cover a few general areas.

1. Changes in foods and diets, especially a move to more processed and unhealthy foods or fast foods.
2. Increasing cleanliness and little exposure to dirt, grime, and bugs which would help train the immune system.
3. Increasing environmental pollution.

Point 1.

In many countries like the USA, Britain, and Australia, diets continue to get poorer and processed and unhealthy foods become cheaper and more available. Fast foods are increasingly popular. I've read that even countries like India and China are seeing skyrocketing rates of obesity, heart disease, and other health problems because of the introduction of a typical Western diet, fast foods, and processed foods.

Unfortunately, any diets based on these often come out nutritionally incomplete or really are hazardous to your health. A high-red meat, high-starch diet with little vegetables or fruits is probably going to be rich in saturated fats, trans-fats, cholesterol, simple sugars, and omega-6 fatty acids. All of these promote inflammation and a stronger, more reactive immune system. Problems like obesity and diabetes also often lead to poor immune systems which are too reactive and damaging. It's good to have a strong immune system, but it's most desirable to have one which is competent, controlled, and doesn't kill you while trying to kill disease.

A diet which is rich in fiber, vegetables, and fruits will generally promote a more tolerant immune system, because many plants and their products are rich in chemicals like antioxidants which reduce inflammation and moderate the immune system. They also help to prevent diseases or conditions which could otherwise affect the immune system negatively. Good Western diets include Mediterranean and more traditional European ones (which rely more on vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and little meat). An American diet of beef, white bread/potatoes, sodas, McDonald's hamburgers, etc. is an example of a diet disaster.

Point 2.

There's a theory among the scientific and medical communities that exposure to the right kind of dirt, pollen, and bugs (bacteria, fungi, viruses, etc.) can train your immune system. If some antigens are common but not harmful, the immune system can be trained not to respond to them as if they were harmful pathogens and build up tolerance. If there is little to no exposure to these antigens, they will be attacked violently just as any disease would. This is called the "Hygiene Hypothesis."

Hygiene hypothesis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Point 3.

There's a lot of evidence that shows smoking damages health. Maybe it should be no surprise that rising air pollution also destroys and compromises one's health, including causing changes in how the immune system reacts and functions. Nitric oxides, SO2, ozone, benzene, etc. are all toxic and damaging to your lungs. They cause irritation and inflammation in the airways of the lungs. Asthma, lung cancer, heart disease, etc. become more common where there are higher levels of air pollution.

Air pollution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Water and soil pollution may also be concerns, because they affect our municipal water (for drinking and other uses) and foods. Many of the pesticides used on crops and fruits are chlorinated compounds, organophosphates, synthetic hormone mimics (that mess up or kill insects), etc. These could be biologically and physiologically active in humans and many of them are stored in the body in the long term, quite often in body fat. PCBs and dioxins, for example, tend to accumulate in the body and can cause health problems and cancer. It makes me wonder a lot if these might influence the immune system negatively or interfere with development so that we develop problems.

Pesticide - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Methyl tert-butyl ether - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Organochloride - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Herbicide - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Organophosphate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also, if you wanted to include certain things like antibiotics and hormone injections in animals as "food pollution," these might play a role in creating unfavorable immune reactions. Many people are sensitive or allergic to antibiotics, and in my mother's family, there's a tendency to be allergic to some antibiotics. I remember my grandmother couldn't take several. For example, tetracyclines, some penicillins, and erythromycin are commonly used in animal agriculture, but not so much in people now. IIRC, there are quite a number of people who are allergic to tetracyclines, penicillins, and erythromycin and they have some serious side effects.

Nontherapeutic Use of Antimicrobial Agents in Animal Agriculture: Implications for Pediatrics -- Shea et al. 114 (3): 862 -- Pediatrics
Tetracycline antibiotics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Erythromycin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Penicillin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hormone injections of testosterone into cattle, for example, may also be absorbed in meat or dairy and physiologically active in people. Sex hormones like testosterone and estrogen have major effects on the immune system.

BBC NEWS | Health | Beef diet 'damages sons' sperm'
Mayo Clinic - Mayo Clinic Researchers Discover One Mechanism for Why Men and Women Differ in Immune Response

This probably isn't so much a concern with protein hormones, which would be presumably digested along with other proteins in the food.

Finis.

[Monomer]

Originally Posted by maikeru

Second, I think there are many reasons why allergies are more common. I wouldn't be able to list them all but I'll cover a few general areas.

1. Changes in foods and diets, especially a move to more processed and unhealthy foods or fast foods.
2. Increasing cleanliness and little exposure to dirt, grime, and bugs which would help train the immune system.
3. Increasing environmental pollution.

I had severe allergies to grasses, pollens, moulds and animals when I was a kid. My parents fed me well with plenty of fruit and vegies and no sugar or processed foods. However my Mum was obsessed with cleanliness and I remember being harshly reprimanded when I was found making mud cakes. Mum eased up on my younger sister who has no allergies, and I've noticed that the parents who are the most relaxed about dirt and grime have quite healthy kids.

Originally Posted by Turtle

I took weekly injections for years for the inhalant allergies and suffer very little from them these days.

I underwent a course of immunotherapy for three years which has greatly reduced my reaction to grasses, pollens and moulds. I grew out of my animal allergies.