Allergies, asthma, and such

[Josiegirl]

The peanut butter thread made me wonder why allergies seem to be so prevalent these days. Allergies along with asthma problems, gluten, it just seems like there is so much out there now that never was around when I was growing up.
Is it our knowledge that has brought it all to the surface? Is it our environment? Has everything changed that much in the past 50 years?
Any insight? Thanks!

[sahm1225]

It could also be that there's better diagnosis too. But I believe our good plays a huge part in it

[NeedaVaca]

I found this and many other articles basically saying the same thing:

These theories include the familiar "hygiene hypothesis" that over-sanitizing a child's environment can lead to decreased disease resistance. The rise in allergies and asthma may also be due to an increase in airborne pollens, climate changes that trigger a rise in pollen levels, the energy-proofing of indoor home and work spaces, urban air pollution, or the overuse of antibiotics.

[Solandia]

With asthma, especially...I think it is better diagnosis. Don't you remember the kid(s) that always had a cough in school. Constanly sick/sickly. Or the friend that would wake everyone up coughing in the middle if the night at sleepovers? Asthma. But unless you were struggling to breathe or full out wheezing, the nagging cough wasn't diagnosed as asthma. Even now,I think it is underdiagnosed.Same with environmental allergies, unless a kid was miserable, they were just that "snot-nosed kid".

The gluten & other food allergies...idk about that. I don't run across food allergies very often. There is research that suggest that delaying allergenic foods increases that chance of a severe allergy, and other research that states the opposite. High fructose corn syrup, additives, etc...I also think the culmulative amounts of sugar eaten has a huge impact on growing kids, in terms of how the immune system reacts to foods.

[Meyou]

I think it's because most kids don't eat real food anymore. We start them off with boxed powder and call it cereal, formula which is a chemical composition (disclaimer: I'm not against formula at all if needed!) and then insist that prepackaged "baby food" is the way to a healthy child. Then we progress to boxed snacks and food in squeeze tubes.

How are little bodies and immature digestive systems suppose to deal with that? I don't think that they do and that is the reason for a rise in allergies and other related illnesses. I know I feel sick when I fill up on junk so how does a digestive system cope with that type of diet all of the time?

This is all my ranty opinion.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

I found this and many other articles basically saying the same thing:

These theories include the familiar "hygiene hypothesis" that over-sanitizing a child's environment can lead to decreased disease resistance. The rise in allergies and asthma may also be due to an increase in airborne pollens, climate changes that trigger a rise in pollen levels, the energy-proofing of indoor home and work spaces, urban air pollution, or the overuse of antibiotics.

...and the overuse of vaccinations. SO MANY MORE vaccinations now than there were even 20 years ago.

[Blackcat31]

I found this and many other articles basically saying the same thing:

These theories include the familiar "hygiene hypothesis" that over-sanitizing a child's environment can lead to decreased disease resistance. The rise in allergies and asthma may also be due to an increase in airborne pollens, climate changes that trigger a rise in pollen levels, the energy-proofing of indoor home and work spaces, urban air pollution, or the overuse of antibiotics.

I agree with the over sanitizing.

A friend of mine is a Nurse Practitioner and she did a study about this for her Master's degree and said the killing of bacteria has caused our immune systems to basically have nothing to fight off and it is bored. So it creates something in the body to "fight off" and one of the simplest things to create is allergies, asthma and things such as eczema. They are singular in cell structure (?) Just repeating what she's said.

She said over use of antibacterial soaps etc has caused ALL good bacteria to be wiped out and the best way for our immune systems to be strengthened is through use (like muscles) and the immature immune systems then allow us to be susceptible colds, allergies and asthma like illnesses.

I also agree that lack of good food, outdoor play/exercise and good sound sleep only exasperates the issues.

I personally do not believe it has anything to do with over use of vaccinations but I do think it is connected to over use of antibiotics (for the same reasons as above).

[AmyKidsCo]

IMO it's all of the above plus all the GMO foods. My mom was just saying over the weekend food doesn't taste the same as she members when she was a kid, and it doesn't taste the same as I remember when I was a kid either. I think it's because of all the processing, feedlots, and GMO foods.