Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The OP's question is a good one. What is behind the rise in immune system disorders, and what can do to stop it? Nobody knows. It's a gigantic medical mystery.
I don't think we really understand, Fibonacci. I've retold my story above. If it were that simple, someone with a childhood like mine would not have developed autoimmune disease, but here I am.
Yes, lots of allergies can be serious and life-threatening, but for some reason peanut allergies require all of us to give them "special" attention.
My sister is allergic to strawberries, her throat closed up and she nearly died. But no one is asked to change their behavior or company policies for strawberries. I never saw a sign on a restaurant saying "caution: there may be strawberries inside." I never heard of schools setting up zero-tolerance no strawberry policies. Ditto for shellfish, which can also cause life-threatening anaphylaxis.
Yes, lots of allergies can be serious and life-threatening, but for some reason peanut allergies require all of us to give them "special" attention.
My sister is allergic to strawberries, her throat closed up and she nearly died. But no one is asked to change their behavior or company policies for strawberries. I never saw a sign on a restaurant saying "caution: there may be strawberries inside." I never heard of schools setting up zero-tolerance no strawberry policies. Ditto for shellfish, which can also cause life-threatening anaphylaxis.
Unlike strawberries, peanut products are often a hidden ingredient in processed foods, making them very difficult to avoid.
Unlike strawberries, peanut products are often a hidden ingredient in processed foods, making them very difficult to avoid.
Unlike peanuts, a package of strawberries does not have to be labeled with "Caution: contains strawberries."
If I have an allergy to anything it's my responsibility to decide what to eat and what not to eat. If I could be allergic to a substance that tends to be "hidden" in processed foods, then I should avoid processed foods. Lots of people do that successfully for various reasons. If it's a child, then their parents have this responsibility.
Unlike strawberries, peanut products are often a hidden ingredient in processed foods, making them very difficult to avoid.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TracySam
Unlike peanuts, a package of strawberries does not have to be labeled with "Caution: contains strawberries."
If I have an allergy to anything it's my responsibility to decide what to eat and what not to eat. If I could be allergic to a substance that tends to be "hidden" in processed foods, then I should avoid processed foods. Lots of people do that successfully for various reasons. If it's a child, then their parents have this responsibility.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TracySam
And we always need to make sweeping changes in public policy in response to single isolated unfortunate stories.
That is why it is important that processed (including health foods with natural ingredients) have
ingredient labels.
That is why it is important that processed (including health foods with natural ingredients) have
ingredient labels.
Or, in a free market, producers of processed foods can elect to provide detailed ingredient labels, and consumers can decide whether to buy those products or not. If a food manufacturer decides to not label all the ingredients, people can/should decide to not buy them. If that hurts sales sufficiently, the company will change its labeling. No need for more laws to be passed.
I knew a little girl whose mother swore was allergic to apples. I thought that was unusual but thought, "Well, OK, it's your child." Later it turned out that it was never diagnosed and was untrue. What had happened was that one time she ate apples (probably too many), got sick, and presto, they assumed it was an allergy. Gimme a break.
There were always people with peanut allergies. They just took responsibility for what they ate and didn't expect the entire world to be responsible for their safety.
On the allergy thing, I saw a study that said farm kids didn't get allergies because they grew up with lots of dirt and exposed to all sorts of bugs and germs and molds. Today's kids, many of them, are raised in a sterile environment. It could just be that children's immune systems are no longer challenged to develop.
I've seen news reports about studies that show that owning a pet when a person is a child means they're less likely to have allergies when they're older. The idea is that pets are dirty - they roll around in dirt, eat their own poop, etc. So basically, the pet rubs tons of bacteria and nasty stuff on the kids all day (kids get pet saliva/pet hair/pet dander all over their hands and then eat without washing first), and the kids are exposed to more bacteria. That exposure bolsters their immune system so that later in life, they're less likely to react to various bacteria, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by weezycom
Another reason is that in earlier years, a lot of those kids died before anyone knew what the problem was. Sad but true.
This could easily be true. My grandma, for instance, was one of about 9 children, but only three of them ultimately lived past the age of 15 (although those three then lived into their 90's). They grew up on a farm in the early 1900's. In fact, it was all the boys who died young, so it probably had a lot to do with the farm work itself, but I know a couple died in infancy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlotteborn
I breastfed my kids but my mothers generation (for the most part) did not. I think we understand the benefits of breastfeeding much more now than in the past.
I think starting in the 1900's it became less fashionable to breastfeed. It was considered to be something only lower class people did. I think this type of thought peaked in the 1950's, and since then, a return to breastfeeding has been more popular.
As for people who stated that it's fashionable to have an allergy now, I agree with that only for certain allergies. For instance, it has become very fashionable to have a gluten allergy or a gluten sensitivity. Most people I've spoken to who say they have one hasn't actually been diagnosed by a doctor - they just decided it on their own after reading a few websites. It's ridiculous. However, that is extremely different than someone actually going into anaphylactic shock from eating a peanut. No one thinks it's really cool to have an actual life-threatening allergy, or an allergy that results in a lot of pain (like people who actually have a gluten allergy). And to have to go throughout your life being suspicious of every food you eat is just tiring and annoying, plus, it's not ever fun to have to use an EpiPen on yourself.
I think there are probably many reasons why there are more allergies now than there used to be. I have no doubt that use of pesticides is probably one huge reason - it seems like there are more and more studies coming out that link particular diseases to pesticides (even exposure to certain pesticides while in the womb can have lifelong consequences for a person). I also think sanitation and lack of exposure to bacteria (widespread use of antibacterial products) can cause it. There's also probably the fact that people a long time ago used to die from their allergic reactions, whereas medical care has advanced enough that more people live through their allergic reactions. There are probably also other reasons that we don't even know of yet (car exhaust, processing foods in certain ways, etc.). And honestly, there are lots of health problems with obesity (I recently read an article about a study that linked obesity to the use of antibiotics), even health problems with the children of parents who are obese, and that may have to do with it as well. Basically, there are just tons of things that may be part of why allergies are more prevalent.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
