Rising Crisis of Asthma and Obesity -- Coincidence? /But the ANTI's tell us SHS is to blame!!!

Web MD ^ | Michael Smith , MD

[3catsanadog]

My guess is that houses/schools/business offices are all closed up all year round - heat in winter, air cond in summer. The vents are breeding grounds for mold, dust, mites and we are all breathing recirculated air. Heck, you can't even open a window in an office building anymore. They are all sealed up.

[Great Dane]

#21........ I know of which you speak, my husband is in the ventilation business, as soon as they sealed up the buildings, you got what is called, "Sick building syndrome."

[Great Dane]

#21........ I know of which you speak, my husband is in the ventilation business, as soon as they sealed up the buildings, you got what is called, "Sick building syndrome."

[aruanan]

All good observations, but you're forgetting one thing; namely that just as our masters have redifined everything else, they've redifined obesity so that now an epidemic can be claimed.

Well, if previous definitions of obesity were in place now, the problem would be considered even worse.

[Eva]

Allergies tend to run in families. There seems to be a hereditary link to a predisposition to allergies.

My mother's father died of a mastoid infection that followed an ear infection from allergies at age 23. My uncle had the allegies, my mother did not, but her 3 children did and their children all do, some worse than others. The breast fed children avoided allergies until teenaged, the bottle fed children developed allergic asthma as infants.

[Eva]

By the way, none of them were over weight.

[LarryLied]

A recent post said some scientists believe a too clean environment is the cause of an increase in asthma cases among children.

[blackbart.223]

"Two already common medical problems -- obesity and asthma -- continue to affect more children in the U.S., and the simultaneous rise may not be a fluke, according to a new study."

I had chronic asthma until I reached twenty one. I was never overweight or even close to it. If anything I was underwieght. I'm 49 now and I'm 5'6",140 lbs and have high blood pressure and high cholestrol. My brother by comparison is quite overweight and has never had any of those problems. Just who the heck are they studying?

By the way I'm very active to boot while my brother is not.

[brat]

"But you must remember the fat police is on the way, and all these same scare tactics worked sooooooooo well against smokers"

Yes, they're about to launch another PARIAH group! It gives them someone else to look down on and allows them to add taxes without public outcry. Here we go again. If someone wants to be obese, I say let them. Its a free county, isn't it? Whatever happened to "pursuit of happiness?" Perhaps sitting and watching tv while snacking on chips and soda makes them happy. Its their business.

[mamelukesabre]

OK, I guess the term "fat" is a bit subjective. If you're a few extra pounds but it doesn't slow you down in the least, then you're doing good.

And I know exactly what you mean about the really lean men that aren't very active. I know the type. Usually they smoke alot of cigarettes and drink alot of coffee. I think the cigarettes and the coffee have an effect on their weight and that's why they are so thin. One of my grandfathers was just like that, and he dropped dead from a heart attack before age 65. A good freind's dad was just like that too, and he dropped dead from a heart attack at age 49.

Tall, thin as a rail, dark complected, big hands and wide bony shoulders, big adams apple, leathery skin, chain smoker, guzzles coffee by the gallons...talks real slow in a deep voice, always wears a hat, and never moves fast. Kinda reminds you of a cowboy out of an old norman rockwell painting. That type always seems to die young.

[GovernmentShrinker]

editor-surveyor: Auto-immune diseases are usually due to self-hatred, or self-disatisfaction.

GovernmentShrinker: Would you care cite a (non-quack) source for this claim?

concerned about politics: I've read that under stress the immune system shuts down. No link. It was in a book.

A very late response to this (I just noticed it as I was skimming my post list for something else):

Auto-immune diseases are not diseases in which the immune system shuts down, in whole or in part. In fact they are the exact opposite. They are diseases in which the body's immune system turns on itself, attacking parts of the sufferer's body as if they were foreign invaders. Also, asthma (which is what editor-surveyor was referring to) is not an auto-immune disease. Rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and lupus are among the most common auto-immune diseases.

[editor-surveyor]

"Also, asthma (which is what editor-surveyor was referring to) is not an auto-immune disease..."

Then the high-powered doctors that we took our daughter to have no clue?

They showed us the learned papers on the subject, and all of the evidence on asthma says auto-immune.

[r9etb]

But.........the ANTI'S blame our SECOND HAND SMOKE!!!!

It certainly didn't help me any. Surely you can admit that there can be more than one trigger. And you're surely not going to claim that SHS would have no effect on a kid already prone to athsma.

[r9etb]

But that begs the question........... why are there so many more cases of allergi's and asthma than ever before.

I've heard also that there's some evidence that good sanitation and vaccination may have something to do with it, too -- little lungs often don't see a series of little irritations to generate a resistance to athsma.

However, I also have to wonder if it simply has something to do with the huge population growth in the South. Plenty of allergens down there to kick off an attack.

[SheLion]

And you're surely not going to claim that SHS would have no effect on a kid already prone to athsma.

If I had a child with asthma, I surely wouldn't take him anywhere that there was smoke.

But I understand that there are drugs today for kids with asthma, so they can participate in sports, etc, and to be able to handle every day life better.

I think this is great! :)

[r9etb]

If I had a child with asthma, I surely wouldn't take him anywhere that there was smoke.

When I was in Houston I worked in a closed building where smoking was permitted. I needed my meds during the day, and as soon as I got home, too. Once the building went smoke-free, those problems went away. SHS is a nasty thing for those of us with breathing problems.

But I understand that there are drugs today for kids with asthma, so they can participate in sports, etc, and to be able to handle every day life better.

There are effective and easy-to-take inhalers that make life immeasurably better. In my son's case, at least, they also improve his behavior -- him acting hyper and mean is usually a good sugn that he's having breathing trouble.

[GovernmentShrinker]

I think they said it was an immune disorder, not an autoimmune disorder. The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association website http://www.aarda.org/ lists 56 autoimmune diseases, but not asthma. The American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology website http://www.aaaai.org/ does not describe asthma as an autoimmune disorder. What I did find on a quick Google search was several "alternative medicine" sites, including some selling herbal remedies, etc., which referred to asthma as an autoimmune disorder. They apparently are not bothering to be precise with medical terminology (not surprising in the quack-ridden world of alternative medicine), and are not making a distinction between ordinary immune system disorders and autoimmune disorders. Other sites with references to asthma as an autoimmune disorder were personal websites and a couple of press releases describing legitimate medical research, but clearly written by and for non-medical professionals (i.e. the same journalist and PR types who refer to semi-automatic pistols as "machine guns"). Real doctors and medical researchers make a big distinction.

Re your assertion that "Auto-immune diseases are usually due to self-hatred, or self-disatisfaction" -- this is sheer nonsense. Neither ordinary immune disorders nor auto-immune disorders are caused by such factors. Asthma IS strongly correlated with obesity as you indicated (as are a laundry list of other ailments), and emotional factors inlcuding short-term anxiety such as about a test in school or an athletic contest, and presumably including things like "self-hatred or self-dissatisfaction" can trigger more frequent attacks of asthma in people who are already asthmatic, but have no known role in causing the underlying disorder. Negative emotions are known to SUPPRESS the immune system, but asthma, allergic reactions, and all the autoimmune disorders involve over-activity of the immune system, not under-activity.

[Great Dane]

A recent post said some scientists believe a too clean environment is the cause of an increase in asthma cases among children.

That I can believe, most children live in such sanitized homes, their immune system has not battles to fight, so it just sits there and gets weak.

[Great Dane]

However, I also have to wonder if it simply has something to do with the huge population growth in the South. Plenty of allergens down there to kick off an attack.

But we have the same kind of increases here in the north.

[Born in a Rage]

Give those fat kids some cigarettes; that'll shed a few pounds off of them, guaranteed.

OMG...LOL!