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I have doubted the incidence and severity of "peanut allergy mania" for some time. I found this link that alludes that much peanut allergy mania is due to hypochondria . . .
I tend to agree with you on this one. I never heard of such a thing when I was a kid in the 60's or 70's. Now its rampant...and I must admit that my nephew apparently had a reaction to strawberries from our garden in the 90's for which no one else reacted badly to. I firmly believe it rests with what you perceive as a reaction which I've heard can be as little as red cheeks. Really?
I disagree, sort of. I think -some- of the severety of allergies is attributed to hovermoms who exaggerate their precious son's or daughter's allergies because it sets them apart and makes them special.
However, I also notice that a lot of kids really ARE allergic to things that were unheard of in my day. Strawberry allergy is actually not all that new, or rare. But peanuts are the allergy du'jour and it's gotten a lot of press, simply because it's in so many prepared foods and is used in so many prepared-food factories.
I think our younger generation's immunities have been compromised. I think there are a lot of things that -might- contribute to this:
Drug use among baby boomers, when the baby boomers were young - maybe some kind of genetic mutation took place in their children as a result.
Pollution, causing all kinds of whacko immune problems.
Overuse of antibacterial everything...I'm absolutely *convinced* this is a major contribution to weakened immune systems and resulting allergies.
I'd like to see if there's any correlation between onset of all these allergies with older parents. No idea if there is one but it might make for some interesting risk-assessment.
Processed foods. When I was a kid, most people weren't allergic to anything other than bee-stings, strawberries, and pollen. There was the occasional this or that or the other thing but those were the three people actually considered common. We didn't have nearly the variety of canned or frozen foods as we have now. And although the additives we had were probably a lot less healthy than the ones we have now, we have a lot -more- of them now, than then, and they're all combined and jumbled up into who knows what kind of slop in our foods, causing who knows what kind of damage.
The thing is, I think you can have psychosomatic symtoms based on hypochondria . . . why NOW, all of a sudden, are peanuts so lethal and deadly that many children can't be in the same room with them?
I don't know but I'm pretty tired of hearing about it. I'm normally a pretty sympathetic and empathetic person but it seems to have become some point of pride "I'm allergic to X" blah blah blah... well congratulations!.
Like they are the true princess and the pea under all those mattress' really bothers them. <sigh>
They may be some uptick in real allergies because the environment kids are growing up in is different (more inside, more urban, less exericise, more processed foods etc.)
BUT
I also think that there is some 'oh me too' attention seeking going on.
The combo of the two makes it seem like allergies are everywhere.
Used to be if you faked getting sick, or exaggerated or told a lie your parents would get on you
Moderator cut: off topic
Last edited by SouthernBelleInUtah; 10-30-2010 at 08:29 PM..
I really don't think the kids themselves have anything intentional to do with it. These allergies are showing up in the kids before the kids are old enough to know what an allergy IS. They're showing up in 4-year-olds who turn blue when they're exposed to a coffee cake with nut-crumble topping on the kitchen counter.
I think these kids really -do- have these allergies, and I think at least at first, their initial symptoms are genuine and not psychosomatic since the kids would have to be knowledgeable about what symptoms go with which allergies in order to trigger the actual symptoms. And - since they're only 3, 4, 5 years old when this starts happening, it just ain't hypochondria.
Double blind study suggests that casual contact (i.e., smelling peanuts) does not trigger allergic response, etc. See study above for specific details . . .
There are a number of health and reaction issues that the next generations face, due to the paranoia and ignorance of parents. If you keep a child in a sterile environment, during the formative years of their immune system, the natural protections it provides fail to develop.
The germ-o-phobia and dirt-o-phobia of parents is creating a generation without a healthy immune system to protect them. Children need to play and get dirty and be exposed to different things in our environment to build natural defenses in their bodies.
Teaching these phobias to children cheats kids of both physical and mental health.
Thanks for posting this ridiculous article from such a reputable source
ALL 3 of my kids have food allergies. They were diagnosed by an ALLERGIST through skin tests and my son was diagnosed with blood tests as well.
So thanks for making fun of a serious condition. Great job
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