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I have a friend who is an immunologist (did I spell that right?) and she maintains that the rise in food allergies is due to our homes being too clean and the overuse of antibiotics. She would argue that kids that grow up on farms hardly ever have food allergies because they are exposed to so many allergens really early on.
I have no idea if she's right but it is an interesting theory.
Something I've noticed that is purely anecdotal and not based on anything scientific...my kids go to a Catholic school where lots of kids come from really big families, there isn't a nut or egg allergy in the whole K-8 school. The public school (which has smaller families) however seems to be overrun with kids with nut, wheat, egg allergies, there seems to be at least one in every class. I've wondered if anyone has looked at that, if you have 5 kids are you more likely to not be crazy about a little dirt when they're babies? Does it make a difference? Or just a weird coincidence?
We see an allergy specialist at Allergy Associates in La Crosse Wisconsin, where our 7 yr old son goes to treat his food allergies. He is allergic to milk, egg, peanuts and nuts. I asked her why the big increase, and she attends conferences and is an author of several major studies with Duke and John's Hopkins. She said no one really knows. There is talk about us being a too clean society...wiping everything down with anti bacterial wipes, etc....maybe that is one piece....but no one knows. We have twin 3 yr olds, and they dont have any allergies.
Someone else brought intolerance versus allergy. We get that all the time with our son. They assume he is just gets a little sick if he drinks cows milk. We have to explains, no he gets hives, eyes swell shut, tongue swells, even if he touches milk. Now he has by accident touched a small bit of cheese and once someone put some lotion on his back accidently made with milk. He got some hives at the point of contact but not the full blown hives over his whole body and swelling like he gets with touching milk.
I don't know either but it's interesting to think about. Some theories I've heard are the "Hygiene Hypothesis" mentioned in Danin's last post. I've heard increased pollution mentioned as a possible culprit as well as processed foods. The theory being that city dwellers are exposed to more pollution and also more likely to eat convenience prepackaged types of foods containing more preservatives and chemicals.
There are a few theories, obviously the main one being many of these countries have much higher infant/child mortality rates, and these children with severe food allergies die young.
Interestingly my first has the severe food allergy. I made all his baby food myself from scratch, and for a number of reasons do not use antibacterial soaps and wipes.
Last edited by Zimbochick; 06-14-2012 at 05:35 PM..
I have a couple of friends who have children with severe allergies and they also made baby food from scratch and don't use a lot of chemicals in their homes or antibacterial wipes. It's so odd that the allergies are more prevalent in cities. I wonder what the common factor is since many people who have them just don't fit the current theories.
I have a couple of friends who have children with severe allergies and they also made baby food from scratch and don't use a lot of chemicals in their homes or antibacterial wipes. It's so odd that the allergies are more prevalent in cities. I wonder what the common factor is since many people who have them just don't fit the current theories.
Us as parents wish there was some simple answer as to why? But I am thankful more tests are coming out and available to help better identify allergies, though even though tests themselves are not 100 percent correct.
Just in the last 1-2 years, testing has become more available (away from the university research setting) that will break down the component proteins, etc in various food and environmental areas to assess the degree of what exactly you are allergic too. Some folks with a milk allergy do outgrow, not all as our son will not as he is allergic to casein which is something you dont outgrow and is present in heated milk foods.
At our last visit, for the first time we got an idea of his resistance or tolerance to his allergens. It is at least a baseline for our next visit in October to see how his food drops or his natural immune system is helping him.
There are sooo many unanswered questions in regards to food allergies and so new research wise that a lot of progress will likely be made over the coming decade.
For those of you with crawlers, did you know that often the first exposure to common food allergens is when crawling babies eat cat or dog food? These foods often contain eggs, wheat, peanuts, and/or soy.
We see an allergy specialist at Allergy Associates in La Crosse Wisconsin, where our 7 yr old son goes to treat his food allergies. He is allergic to milk, egg, peanuts and nuts. I asked her why the big increase, and she attends conferences and is an author of several major studies with Duke and John's Hopkins. She said no one really knows. There is talk about us being a too clean society...wiping everything down with anti bacterial wipes, etc....maybe that is one piece....but no one knows. We have twin 3 yr olds, and they dont have any allergies.
Someone else brought intolerance versus allergy. We get that all the time with our son. They assume he is just gets a little sick if he drinks cows milk. We have to explains, no he gets hives, eyes swell shut, tongue swells, even if he touches milk. Now he has by accident touched a small bit of cheese and once someone put some lotion on his back accidently made with milk. He got some hives at the point of contact but not the full blown hives over his whole body and swelling like he gets with touching milk.
--Dan
Also there was that recent fad to restrict any food other than breast milk or formula until a baby was at least 4-6 months old. Delayed introduction to antigens isn't natural or good, a baby will try to taste the foods the rest of the family is eating and it's best to build up their immune systems that way.
Also there was that recent fad to restrict any food other than breast milk or formula until a baby was at least 4-6 months old. Delayed introduction to antigens isn't natural or good, a baby will try to taste the foods the rest of the family is eating and it's best to build up their immune systems that way.
I'm not sure what you mean by recent? Standard practice in the 60's was to introduce solids at 3 to 4 months. Not an enormous difference.
There's a lot we still don't know about food allergies, and the role early exposure to known food allergens plays. But there is also a lot of valuable research and experts in the field giving prudent advice and tips. Choosing to feed you child based on hunches and random opinions doesn't cut it any more.
I'm not sure what you mean by recent? Standard practice in the 60's was to introduce solids at 3 to 4 months. Not an enormous difference.
There's a lot we still don't know about food allergies, and the role early exposure to known food allergens plays. But there is also a lot of valuable research and experts in the field giving prudent advice and tips. Choosing to feed you child based on hunches and random opinions doesn't cut it any more.
Early exposure to antigens is known to prevent allergies. Not one of my kids has an allergy. None of my siblings or myself had allergies and we were introduced to all kinds of antigens, including various foods very early.
It would be an interesting study --- to determine when foods of any kind were introduced and later food allergies.
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