Replies

Re, new phnomenon...

"Peanut allergies are rising among American children and one reason might be due to economic status. According to a new study presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting, greater rates of peanut allergy are found in families with higher economic status. This supports the "hygiene hypothesis" of many allergists." -- Socioeconomic Status Linked To Childhood Peanut Allergy, 2012, American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology.

Allergists are suspecting the huge growth in antibacterial soap as a root cause.

"The reason for the link between antibacterial soaps and allergies has to do with the hygiene hypothesis, a theory about how the immune system develops and reacts to assaults. Some scientists believe that our society’s current obsession with cleanliness — both in the form of overuse of antibacterial cleaning products, as well as an exceedingly sanitized lifestyle that keeps us isolated from most sources of germs that can make us ill — has caused our immune systems to become hypersensitive to foreign assaults of all kinds, whether harmful or beneficial." -- Can Overuse of Antibacterial Soap Promote Allergies in Kids?, 2010, Time.

I'd have to agree with their assessments on this. When I was a kid, I went everywhere, got dirty, stayed dirty, topped corn, mowed lawns, bucked hay and straw bales, and I had no allergies to anything. When I went into the Air Force, somewhere along the line, I developed an aversion to being dirty, and picked up the annoying habit of cleaning my hands after every little thing.

When I got out of the service, and headed back home, I suddenly developed allergies to things that had never bothered me in the past. I mowed my dad's lawn for him when I first got out, and 15 minutes in I couldn't see, was sneezing all over the place, and my mouth itched like crazy. That blew me away, as I mowed lawns for spending money starting when I was 10. I don't appear to have any life-threatening food allergies, but I do notice some things seem to affect me differently than others.

“””””Allergists are suspecting the huge growth in antibacterial soap as a root cause.”””””””””””””””

I can dig that. I’m 60, worked outside my whole life. No such thing as washing your hands before you eat. you just grab your sammich from the lunch box and eat it with somewhat dirty hands.You just wipe your hands of on your pants and that gets the big chunks off. I hardly ever get sick. Never had a flu shot.

On the other hand, look at how people work these days. All confined in a sealed building cramped into cubicle farms. When one sneezes they all get to enjoy it. No windows are open because the get recirculated air for heating or cooling.