S/O--the why and wherefores of allergies

[Eileen Aroon]

It's not just the cupcake thread that got me thinking, but I want to know what people think about the genesis or evolution of food allergies. I mean, a hundred years ago did people go into anaphylactic shock and I missed the reference in Jane Austen or Samuel Pepys?

 

No one in my family has food allergies and my heart goes out to parents who are fabulous advocates for their children and have to arrange their homes and environments with that pervasive fear.

 

Educate me. When did this become such a big deal and why?

[jelbe5]

Don't know if this will help, but I feel the medical community is better at diagnosing such things now and people are more aware.

 

I have asthma. It was not diagnosed until I was 8 back in the late 60s. Even then I had adults (relatives and teachers) yell at me and tell me to stop acting out when I had an asthma attack. :glare: Seriously. They really thought I was making it up.

 

The medications I take now are so superior to the ones I took as a kid. My asthma and allergies are very well controlled.

 

I know, 100 years ago, I would have just died, probably as an infant. Perhaps that is why we see more asthma/allergies today. Kids who would not have made it are here today because of better detection and better meds.

 

ETA my mom smoked while pregnant with me which may be a link to asthma. Also, my dad's sister had asthma, although no one called it that. But I am pretty sure that is what it was (she died many years ago). Her oldest son has asthma and her grandson also has it, so there is some genetic things there.

Edited August 11, 2012 by jelbe5

[kb44]

:lurk5: I am intererested in this too!

[SW in IL]

I read a super book on this earlier this year. I think the title is Don't Kill the Birthday Girl or something similar. I have a friend who has 2 kids that are allergic to just about everything you can think of and she had recommended the book to me.

 

One of the things I found quite interesting is that a food (candy, if I remember right) given to young children in Israel is made of peanuts and they have almost no incidence peanut allergies in their country. But yet we're told not to give peanuts (or peanut containing products) to our young children.

 

My future sister-in-law was horrified when I gave a peanut butter & jelly sandwich to her (then) 4 and 6 year old sons. I had asked about allergies and was told they had none. Seemed like a great lunch to me. Then I find out that her doctor said no peanuts until they're at least 5. Since when? My kids were chowing down on PB&Js when they were 2!

 

Also, a lot of people don't differentiate between a true allergy and a sensitivity. I'm sensitive to a couple of foods. I can't eat a milk chocolate bar unless I'm willing to spend half an hour in the bathroom throwing up. My son can't eat egg drop soup without getting a headache (neckache? he says it's a burning sensation along the back of his neck and base of his skull). These are not allergic reactions (at least according to our doctors); these are sensitivities. True allergic reactions are normally life-threatening.

 

I would be interested in learning more about the evolution of allergies. When I was a kid I don't think any of my classmates had food allergies. Now a days the schools don't even let you bring certain foods into the building. I know that anything containing peanuts is forbidden in our elementary schools and the junior high and high schools make kids who bring their own lunches sit separate from their classmates.

 

Sue

[TravelingChris]

I have no idea why but some of it is better availability of food and more food choices. I don't think my dd would have been allergic to citrus foods and citric acid five hundred years ago when there were no citrus fruits in the countries we come from and no citric acid as a preservative. Same with her peanut allergy- peanuts weren't eaten in Europe until fairly recently.

 

Now as to her wasp allergy- my mother had a bee allergy and had to go to the hospital and it worked. A long time ago, I am sure my ancestors died.

[kubiac]

I'm not a scientist, but I personally hold to the hygenie hypothesis. Kids today may not develop the same "microbiome" (bacterial populations) as kids of the past, because instead of being the product of vaginal births, breastfed for years, playing in the chicken coop, doing really dirty housework and using a communal outhouse, they're scrubbed down with antibacterial soap and kept in pseudosterile environments. If the digestive system is lacking a balanced and diverse bacterial population that can do some of the work of processing new and possibly dangerous substances, the immune system steps in and overreacts.

 

NOTE: I am not blaming or criticizing any mom (especially mine) who keeps their kids and their home spotlessly clean for bringing allergies down upon their children's heads, I just find the research in this domain fascinating and compelling. It's also a great excuse to keep your kids dirty, LOL!

 

Amish farm kids remarkably immune to allergies: study

 

My $.02.

[SKL]

I dunno. Nobody in my family is allergic to anything, and the same is true of most people I know. My kids were adopted from a third-world country and my house hasn't been kept spotless since they came home. They don't have allergies that I know of, but one has some sensitivities (sugar), and the other has recently begun feeling sick after meals, so who knows what that's about?

 

I am not a scientist, but I tend to notice trends. I look for trends in the "allergy" arena, and so far I haven't found any. Wouldn't it be nice to have a list of things to "not do" that would prevent allergies?

 

I suspect that in past generations, kids just died when they had a severe allergic reaction, and nobody really delved deeply into the reason.

[Mom-ninja.]

I think sensitivities and allergies are a combination of things. First, our immune systems are literally overloaded with all the pollutants and toxins in the environment. 100 years ago and before that was not the case to the extent that it is now.

 

Food and diet has changed. I'm not really talking about processed food as my kids never really ate much processed food. Peanuts were not a food in many places. In Germany it's not a common food eaten even today.....not to the extent here. My German grandmother believes that peanuts and corn are food for livestock and not people. She's 78 and that was the belief while she grew up.

 

I also read that wheat has been bred (does one say bred when it refers to plants) to contain more gluten than it did 50 years ago. We (society) really like the texture gluten gives so farmers worked to produce higher gluten containing wheat. I think this is why we see an increase in gluten/wheat sensitivity.

 

Celiac disease, on the other hand, is genetic and inherited. My ds got it from me. Looking back at family history it is obvious to me where the celiac came from. My mom's family is loaded with relatives who had "weak stomachs" and "fragile nerves." Well, now doctors know what causes this. I have been diagnosed with heart and nerve damage directly related from my celiac disease. My grandmother who has similar symptoms was told all her life that she has fragile nerves. I also learned that my great grandmother died of intestinal cancer, a risk of celiac. Back then they didn't know about celiac or why she got intestinal cancer.

 

So I'm sure my ancestors who had celiac disease led a painful, miserable life and died earlier than most.

[regentrude]

I strongly believe that the hygiene hypothesis is at least a contributing factor. Basically, in modern clean civilization, the immune system does not get enough to do and starts attacking harmless proteins in food or pollen.

 

If I remember correctly, there are studies that show kids who grow up on a farm to have fewer allergies. An interesting large scale "experiment" was the fall of the Berlin wall. Allergy numbers in communist East Germany, with more primitive living conditions, were much lower than in the more developed West Germany. After the reunification and the subsequent improvement of living standards in the East, allergy numbers rose steadily in the East.

Another contributing factor is the variety of chemicals humans are exposed to; after the fall of the wall, East German apartments were outfitted with well-fitting windows (less involuntary fresh air), synthetic wall-to-wall carpeting, upholstered furniture....

As there is no genetic difference between the eastern and Western population, environmental causes are the only explanation.

[regentrude]

. My German grandmother believes that peanuts and corn are food for livestock and not people. She's 78 and that was the belief while she grew up.

 

Well, in Germany corn actually is only fit for animal consumption, because the climate does not permit corn to ripen to the level that humans would eat it. In South America, corn has been a staple for humans for centuries.

 

Peanuts, OTOH, are consumed by humans in Germany as occasional snacks; the lesser prevalence is most likely because they can not be grown in Germany but have to be imported and thus have not become a part of the traditional diet.

[Mom-ninja.]

I'm not a scientist, but I personally hold to the hygenie hypothesis. Kids today may not develop the same "microbiome" (bacterial populations) as kids of the past, because instead of being the product of vaginal births, breastfed for years, playing in the chicken coop, doing really dirty housework and using a communal outhouse, they're scrubbed down with antibacterial soap and kept in pseudosterile environments. If the digestive system is lacking a balanced and diverse bacterial population that can do some of the work of processing new and possibly dangerous substances, the immune system steps in and overreacts.

 

NOTE: I am not blaming or criticizing any mom (especially mine) who keeps their kids and their home spotlessly clean for bringing allergies down upon their children's heads, I just find the research in this domain fascinating and compelling. It's also a great excuse to keep your kids dirty, LOL!

 

Amish farm kids remarkably immune to allergies: study

 

My $.02.

 

 

There are many allergies and autoimmune diseases that are hereditary. Do the studies take the genetic pool of children in consideration? Maybe the Amish don't carry the celiac gene.

 

I'm not debating with you. Just pointing out that allergies and other diseases are more than just being exposed to beneficial bacteria.

[Mom-ninja.]

Well, in Germany corn actually is only fit for animal consumption, because the climate does not permit corn to ripen to the level that humans would eat it. In South America, corn has been a staple for humans for centuries.

 

Peanuts, OTOH, are consumed by humans in Germany as occasional snacks; the lesser prevalence is most likely because they can not be grown in Germany but have to be imported and thus have not become a part of the traditional diet.

 

Yes, I realize that Germans eat peanuts. Just not to extent as in the US. I wonder what the peanut allergy rate is there. When my cousins come to visit they gag when they see peanut butter. They think it's the most disgusting thing ever. ;)

 

I find it fascinating that people from different areas of the world have different allergy rates for different things. Celiac genes are prevalent and originated from Northern Europe. So I wonder if the same trend can be seen for the other top 8 allergens.

 

Btw, you should see my grandmother's face when I feed my kids corn. She's convinced I'm killing them.

Edited August 11, 2012 by Kleine Hexe

[TranquilMind]

It's not just the cupcake thread that got me thinking, but I want to know what people think about the genesis or evolution of food allergies. I mean, a hundred years ago did people go into anaphylactic shock and I missed the reference in Jane Austen or Samuel Pepys?

 

No one in my family has food allergies and my heart goes out to parents who are fabulous advocates for their children and have to arrange their homes and environments with that pervasive fear.

 

Educate me. When did this become such a big deal and why?

 

I suspect vaccine overload, and food manipulation so that our bodies can't recognize it with all the additives. Just a hunch. I keep reading about people who went all raw and organic and healed some things.

 

I developed environmental allergies at age 48, after a long term roof leak. Mold?

[Mom-ninja.]

I suspect vaccine overload, and food manipulation so that our bodies can't recognize it with all the additives. Just a hunch. I keep reading about people who went all raw and organic and healed some things.

 

I developed environmental allergies at age 48, after a long term roof leak. Mold?

 

My dh developed allergies as an adult after a childhood of eating everything and working on a farm (think dust, dirt, pollen, hay, etc) and never had an issue.

 

It wasn't until he was in the military that he developed allergies/sensitivites. He cannot eat any fresh stone fruit, grapes, pears, apples. When he does his throat swells and he has a hard time breathing. He should go to the allergist for an epi pen prescription, but he won't. He also now suffers from environmental allergies like pollen.

 

He received a lot of vaccines while in the military. Interesting to ponder if that has anything to do with the onset of his allergies.

[Luckymama]

But then there are families with only one allergic child (like mine). Same parents, same environment, same food.

 

(sorry have to run will continue later)

[Slartibartfast]

I recently read an article about how kids who grow up on farms have a much lower rate of allergies. Allergies are almost unheard of among the Amish.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/04/us-kidsallergies-idUSBRE8431J920120504

 

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/05/07/amish-have-fewer-allergies-due-to-farm-effect/

 

I think there is much to be said for our more sanitized lifestyle, are we really doing ourselves a favor?

 

My allergies are bad, have always been bad. We always played outside as kids, played in the mud and dirt. I am allergic to all sorts of animals, dairy, some trees and plants. We didn't grow up in a sterile environment. What would be the difference?

 

 

There is a genetic predisposition to allergies, do those people HAVE to grow up laying in dirty cow mud to avoid allergies?

[kubiac]

There are many allergies and autoimmune diseases that are hereditary. Do the studies take the genetic pool of children in consideration? Maybe the Amish don't carry the celiac gene.

 

I'm not debating with you. Just pointing out that allergies and other diseases are more than just being exposed to beneficial bacteria.

 

Yup, I got my allergies from my dad and my eczema from mom, and somehow I lucked out and got asthma protection from them both, even though the three (allergies-eczema-asthma) often travel as part of an atopic-disease triad.

 

I assume that as with many things, it's an interaction. My guess is that certain genes (or a lack of certain genes) open the door to susceptibility, and then the environment steps in and does its part.

 

Most of my vaguely understood science comes from this article (and others like it):

 

NYT Science: Tending the Body's Microbial Garden

[Julie Smith]

I found an interesting documentary on this.

 

To find it search youtube for Allergy Planet. It is broken up into 5 parts labelled "deel 1", "deel 2", ... "deel 5".

[Soror]

Allergies and Celiac are 2 different things. Celiac has always been in the gene line, I think changes to our food have increased the rate at which it expresses itself.

 

I think there are many factors in no particular order-

 

 

1) hygiene hypothesis

2) leaky gut passed down to children from pregnancy and less good bacteria introduced through vag birth, bf'ing and just a lack of good bacteria in our food (partly due to our change to preparation and also our obsession w/ hygiene that things fermentation and such are bad)

3) modified food- gmo, more gluten in wheat

4) less food variety, meaning certain foods are ate WAY more than they used to be and in forms they were not before

5) Better diagnosis, if a kid was allergic to a common food before they would just die without knowing why

[dangermom]

But then there are families with only one allergic child (like mine). Same parents, same environment, same food.

 

(sorry have to run will continue later)

 

Yes. I have one very allergic child and one with no allergies at all. We are two parents with very slight allergies to one or two things--and I have a brother with Chron's--so genetics appears to play a part.

 

My daughter was breastfed, and I've never been a good housekeeper. We hang out a lot outside and at grandma and grandpa's farm. She started showing signs of food allergies the minute she started eating solid foods (besides rice cereal) at six months of age.

 

So, I do bristle a bit at being told that I used too much antibacterial soap (I never use it) and sheltered my kid too much. I think it's just partly the luck of the draw and partly, probably, a result of lots of different environmental factors.

[dbmamaz]

Everyone in my family has allergies, up and down. and various foods they 'cant eat'. I was dx'd as allergic to wheat and milk as an infant, and was off them for about 6 months, and 'outgrew' the reactions . . . but when I quit them at age 42, wow, did I feel better!

 

Among the allergy crowds I hang in, some believe GMOs play a role - if you splice in genes from another plant (or, more common, a pesticide) to the gene of a food product, then you could be reacting to the foreign material, not the original food.

 

Other allergy moms blame immunizations - some have egg or peanut in them, and are shot directly in to the blood stream, bypassing the stomach, which breaks things down in to safe components.

 

Its really frustrating because there have been articles here and there saying that parents are making up their kids allergies 'to get attention' - but one of the authors who wrote an article like that had to apologize . . . because the first time his 1 yo son had peanut butter, he had to rush him to the hospital ...

 

no one in my family has anaphalaxic reactions, mostly stomach reactions

[Eileen Aroon]

So many good answers. I did not know that celiac had a genetic component, and combined with the fact that wheat has been modified to have more gluten, that might explain why I know so many people who just cannot tolerate gluten.

 

I have heard the "our standard of living is too clean" theory I partly believe it, only because there are so many bacteria that do so many things for and against uHathor never know what you are losing when you wipe it all out. I hope that this theory (simplistic as it is) may mature someday into a better explanation/directive. I cant imagine someone literally blaming a mother who keeps a clean house for her kids' allergies. Sounds like sour grapes. As it stands, I am glad our kids aren't at risk for typhoid and cholera. Alive and vigilant about nuts is better than dead and, well, dead.

 

Fascinating about the east Germany west Germany differences! I love that kind of stuff.

 

I want to check out that YouTube documentary now....

 

One other thought. Were children always given a limited diet in Europe. I am thinking the rice pudding type diet. A.A. Milne and Agatha Christie both reference children bored to death by their rice puddings, and Frances Hodson Burnett has a preoccupation with food that borders on disordered (love love her books, but it is true). I know today we limit food introductions (no peanuts till 5) but when did that start?

[dangermom]

Yes, children had a limited diet for centuries in Europe. Vegetables were considered too hard to digest, and children tended to live on a diet of bread/potatoes, milk, and very cooked meat if the family could afford it, or various forms of pease pudding if they couldn't. Adults of course frequently had similar diets, and their veggies tended to be highly cooked. Fruit was a big treat.

 

Obviously it varied a lot by time period and place, but if you read old Victorian books there will be a lot about the indigestibility of veggies and how children need mild foods.

 

Delaying introducing foods to prevent allergies was a current idea when my daughter was born. People thought that maybe the problem was caused by introducing 'difficult' foods to an immature immune system which then attacked the wrong thing. It was purely conjecture, as are quite a lot of ideas about what causes allergies--we really haven't got much solid idea of why it happens. Now the thinking is moving away from it and everyone is talking about Israeli peanut candy and the virtues of pre-chewing baby's foods to introduce valuable enzymes.

[Eileen Aroon]

Everyone in my family has allergies, up and down. and various foods they 'cant eat'. I was dx'd as allergic to wheat and milk as an infant, and was off them for about 6 months, and 'outgrew' the reactions . . . but when I quit them at age 42, wow, did I feel better!

 

Among the allergy crowds I hang in, some believe GMOs play a role - if you splice in genes from another plant (or, more common, a pesticide) to the gene of a food product, then you could be reacting to the foreign material, not the original food.

 

Other allergy moms blame immunizations - some have egg or peanut in them, and are shot directly in to the blood stream, bypassing the stomach, which breaks things down in to safe components.

 

Its really frustrating because there have been articles here and there saying that parents are making up their kids allergies 'to get attention' - but one of the authors who wrote an article like that had to apologize . . . because the first time his 1 yo son had peanut butter, he had to rush him to the hospital ...

 

no one in my family has anaphalaxic reactions, mostly stomach reactions

 

The fact people even voice that accusation indicates to me that this is either a new phenomenon or growing faster than ever before. I mean no one says "oh you are claiming to have arthritis to get attention" because arthritis is an established disease (and its victims are adults).

[dangermom]

I have been told that I am attention-seeking, over-paranoid, over-protective, and the mother of a little freak. Not kidding. People can be extremely rude about allergies.

 

I think it is partly a sort of superstition. If a child's allergies can be blamed on bad parenting, then it won't happen to ME because I am (or would be) a good parent. So I will be safe, and this scary, unpredictable thing won't happen to my child.

 

People like to have something to blame, and mothers usually get it in the neck. Autism used to be blamed on bad mothering (and now sometimes is again!), and so did homosexuality. I had a friend whose little son had leukemia and SHE got comments. And when it comes to children suffering from mental disorders or illnesses...whoo boy, the parent-blaming is much worse.

[ktgrok]

It seems simple to me...in days gone by the small children with food allergies would die before they could pass on their genes. Now, kids with a mutation that makes them allergic can survive and reproduce, passing those genes on.

[Wheres Toto]

Allergies and Celiac are 2 different things. Celiac has always been in the gene line, I think changes to our food have increased the rate at which it expresses itself.

 

I think there are many factors in no particular order-

 

 

1) hygiene hypothesis

2) leaky gut passed down to children from pregnancy and less good bacteria introduced through vag birth, bf'ing and just a lack of good bacteria in our food (partly due to our change to preparation and also our obsession w/ hygiene that things fermentation and such are bad)

3) modified food- gmo, more gluten in wheat

4) less food variety, meaning certain foods are ate WAY more than they used to be and in forms they were not before

5) Better diagnosis, if a kid was allergic to a common food before they would just die without knowing why

 

:iagree: I think it's a variety of factors and may be different in each case.

 

I have environmental allergies that have gotten worse as I've gotten older, to the point of asthma. All my kids seem to have hayfever to some extent (not enough to think about medication) but none of us have any food allergies or sensitivities. I am definitely not an -everything is sterile- housekeeeper (understatement of the year right there), we have a dog and had a cat, live surrounded by trees, dirt and animals in an old house that is somewhat less than airtight. I fully vaccinate, breastfed, c-sections, one kid that is so picky (texture sensitivities) he eats mostly processed carb heavy food. My oldest and son had peanut butter at 2 years old which was the recommendation then. My youngest had it before a year because she stole her brothers sandwich.

 

It would be nice if we could say - do this, this and this - and everything would be okay. Not just with allergies but with weight loss, cancer, illness, etc. Things are never clear cut.

[nmoira]

I don't think it's as simple as many seem to believe. FWIW, the kids I know with the worst food allergies (and these are real covered-with-weals-allergies, not a projection or a behavioral quirk) are in non-vaxxed, organically fed, breastfed, naturally birthed kids.

[Random]

So many good answers. I did not know that celiac had a genetic component, and combined with the fact that wheat has been modified to have more gluten, that might explain why I know so many people who just cannot tolerate gluten.

 

I have heard the "our standard of living is too clean" theory I partly believe it, only because there are so many bacteria that do so many things for and against uHathor never know what you are losing when you wipe it all out. I hope that this theory (simplistic as it is) may mature someday into a better explanation/directive. I cant imagine someone literally blaming a mother who keeps a clean house for her kids' allergies. Sounds like sour grapes. As it stands, I am glad our kids aren't at risk for typhoid and cholera. Alive and vigilant about nuts is better than dead and, well, dead.

 

Fascinating about the east Germany west Germany differences! I love that kind of stuff.

 

I want to check out that YouTube documentary now....

 

One other thought. Were children always given a limited diet in Europe. I am thinking the rice pudding type diet. A.A. Milne and Agatha Christie both reference children bored to death by their rice puddings, and Frances Hodson Burnett has a preoccupation with food that borders on disordered (love love her books, but it is true). I know today we limit food introductions (no peanuts till 5) but when did that start?

 

It's so interesting to me that so many people just 'believe' this theory to be true. It's not very well supported! I've read more supporting the idea that our environment is dirtier than ever. But, we're living longer.

 

Here are my ideas as to why there are so many more food allergies (I'm just a mom of a food-allergic (dx'd by several different MDs) kid, who spent years researching.):

 

1-less breastfeeding of babies, and for shorter time periods.

2-more C-sections

3-more GMO foods

4-better medical understanding and dx'ing of allergies, better control of symptoms

5-introducing solids earlier (even foods introduced into the mom's diet during infancy can affect her baby's food allergy risk)

6-generally a poor diet in the USA, lacking in gut support (very few fermented foods, lots of whites and refined foods, way too many antibiotics, etc.)

 

 

I was reading Johnny Tremain a while back, and it struck me that the little sister had a strange mystery disease that no doctor could treat. She would get violently ill when she ate certain foods. She was also described as a weak and sickly child, which jumped out at me, as a pretty accurate description of a child with undiagnosed food allergies. Just something else to think about...

[Lolly]

I'm with the genetics are being passed down group. My dh probably wouldn't have survived, or at least been in the highly desirable group for reproduction back when. My dd#1 definitely wouldn't have survived. Honestly, she has barely made it today and may not make past tomorrow.

[dbmamaz]

lol i thought that about Johnny Tremain too!

 

honestly, i think we have to be careful about cause/effect ... the poster who said the worst allergies are in kids who were raised totally naturally/organic ... it is imo quite possible that the parents were highly sensitive people who were trying to be more natural because their own chemical sensitivities made it important to them . . .and then their kids are even more sensitive.

 

kind of like on my attachment parenting group - when the question goes up about why you chose attachment parenting - the two most common reasons are because they were raised that way, or because they felt so much trauma from their own childhood and were looking for a better way . . . but most kids who are raised non-attachment dont find their childhood so traumatic . . . sensitive people are more likely to be traumatized and more likely to choose AP and . . . more likely to have sensitive kids . . . and outsiders think the AP caused the sensitivity.

 

sorry, rambling . . .

[nmoira]

lol i thought that about Johnny Tremain too!

 

honestly, i think we have to be careful about cause/effect ... the poster who said the worst allergies are in kids who were raised totally naturally/organic ... it is imo quite possible that the parents were highly sensitive people who were trying to be more natural because their own chemical sensitivities made it important to them . . .and then their kids are even more sensitive.

I'm not making a blanket statement or assertion, but rather am just adding my anecdotal experience. :001_smile: My suspicion is that there are environmental factors contributing to the rise in good allergies (not necessarily pollution... one could even be as unexpected as a mix of lawn seed) we don't yet recognized that are priming some of the allergies.

[stripe]

One of the things I found quite interesting is that a food (candy, if I remember right) given to young children in Israel is made of peanuts and they have almost no incidence peanut allergies in their country. But yet we're told not to give peanuts (or peanut containing products) to our young children.

 

My future sister-in-law was horrified when I gave a peanut butter & jelly sandwich to her (then) 4 and 6 year old sons. I had asked about allergies and was told they had none. Seemed like a great lunch to me. Then I find out that her doctor said no peanuts until they're at least 5. Since when? My kids were chowing down on PB&Js when they were 2!

 

it's some puffy thing, not really a candy, apparently.

 

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently changed the no peanuts and other advice for kids, I think maybe it is only kids from a family with a strong allergy history to that item. Anyway the advice has changed. Because of research that avoidance is proper for those who ARE allergic, but is not necessary and may even be contributing to allergies in the general population.

 

I just heard on the radio a few days ago that some research showed people inherit allergies from their parent of the same sex. Maybe that explains why not all the kids in one family, who usually have similar lifestyles if not birth and infant feeding sources, get allergies. One idea. Very, very strange though.

Edited August 12, 2012 by stripe

[Mom-ninja.]

So, I do bristle a bit at being told that I used too much antibacterial soap (I never use it) and sheltered my kid too much. I think it's just partly the luck of the draw and partly, probably, a result of lots of different environmental factors.

 

:iagree:

 

I also breastfed my sons for 4 years each.

 

 

Allergies and Celiac are 2 different things. Celiac has always been in the gene line, I think changes to our food have increased the rate at which it expresses itself.

 

 

Yes. One of my sons has celiac the other two don't. They don't even carry the genes. However, the oldest (one of the non celiac) has a severe wheat and peanut allergy. My ds with celiac has no food allergies. Same with me....I have celiac but no food allergies.

 

 

My dd#1 definitely wouldn't have survived. Honestly, she has barely made it today and may not make past tomorrow.

 

I caught this. :grouphug: I'm sorry. It's so scary having a life threatening allergy or autoimmune disease.

[KungFuPanda]

It's so interesting to me that so many people just 'believe' this theory to be true. It's not very well supported! I've read more supporting the idea that our environment is dirtier than ever. But, we're living longer.

 

Here are my ideas as to why there are so many more food allergies (I'm just a mom of a food-allergic (dx'd by several different MDs) kid, who spent years researching.):

 

1-less breastfeeding of babies, and for shorter time periods.

2-more C-sections

3-more GMO foods

4-better medical understanding and dx'ing of allergies, better control of symptoms

5-introducing solids earlier (even foods introduced into the mom's diet during infancy can affect her baby's food allergy risk)

6-generally a poor diet in the USA, lacking in gut support (very few fermented foods, lots of whites and refined foods, way too many antibiotics, etc.)

 

 

 

Weren't there far fewer breastfeeding moms in the 70s and 80s than there are today?

[Soror]

lol i thought that about Johnny Tremain too!

 

honestly, i think we have to be careful about cause/effect ... the poster who said the worst allergies are in kids who were raised totally naturally/organic ... it is imo quite possible that the parents were highly sensitive people who were trying to be more natural because their own chemical sensitivities made it important to them . . .and then their kids are even more sensitive.

 

 

sorry, rambling . . .

Or it could be that it isn't even actually the case I haven't seen any actual facts past anecdotes that suggest that bf'ing and organic foods equals a higher incidence of allergies. In fact I'm pretty sure that with bf'ing at least the actual statistics are that it reduces the rate of allergies. I think it is one of those things people like to believe. I also believe that for more minor allergies often people ignore them. I've seen many kids with signs of minor allergens that weren't paid attention to in the least and I believe those trying to do all the "right things" are most likely to notice when things are amiss. But there is no way to test that theory. Who knows how many are undiagnosed out there now or in the past.

[stripe]

It wasn't until he was in the military that he developed allergies/sensitivites. He cannot eat any fresh stone fruit, grapes, pears, apples. When he does his throat swells and he has a hard time breathing. He should go to the allergist for an epi pen prescription, but he won't. He also now suffers from environmental allergies like pollen.

 

He received a lot of vaccines while in the military. Interesting to ponder if that has anything to do with the onset of his allergies.

 

I had a relative who was a Vietnam Vet who was able to get compensation from the military for his exposure to Agent Orange before he died. There sure seem to be strange symptoms in returning members of the military in recent wars too.

 

One of my kids obtained an epi pen prescription from the pediatrician, although I've since taken the child to an allergist. Anyway the regular doctor might prescribe one, but a family doctor would be able to discuss the symptoms with him including oral allergy syndrome. However I have an older male relative who had a single anaphylactic allergy reaction who never bothered to go to an allergist or get an epipen, so I understand that sometimes people don't want to investigate further.