Alternative theories abound on why developed countries have such high rates of allergic reactions

[marmar]

from AlterNet:



In a Boston hospital, people are eating whipworm eggs.

Too small to see, they're swigged in cups of tasteless, odorless clear liquid. Once swallowed, they lodge in the gut and produce larvae. They're parasites, known clinically as Trichuris suis. Are they the next big thing in allergy relief?

Pathologist Marie-Helene Jouvin, who launched this study at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with allergist/immunologist Mariana Castells, hopes they are -- and the sooner the better, as America's allergy rate is soaring. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of young Americans with food allergies soared nearly 20 percent in the last decade. Eight percent of children under six now have food allergies. The number of adults with allergies has risen too.

The Boston worm study stems from a scientific hot potato called the hygiene hypothesis, which holds that growing up in developed nations enfeebles our immune systems. When it's not constantly battling dangerous bacteria, "the immune system doesn't know what to fight against," Jouvin says, "so it fights against stuff that isn't supposed to be dangerous, like food.

"As the human immune system matures, normally it learns how to differentiate what is not dangerous from what is dangerous. If you raise children in too clean of an environment, this distinction is missing." ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/health/148949/are_we_killing_ourselves_with_cleanliness_as_number_of_allergy_sufferers_soar%2C_potential_cures_are_more_radical_/

[Kali]

1. eat more dirt

stop sanitizing every goddamn thing

let the kids play outside

[haikugal]

2. I'm A Boomer

and I was recently diagnosed with Microscopic Colitis...a condition the medical profession knows little about. In fact it is the result of an allergy to gluten, one of several diseases that result from this auto immune condition. I wasn't raised in an overly clean environment. While I agree that many parents are hyper vigilant and anxious concerning their children I'm not convinced that is the reason for these conditions.

It has only been the blink of an eye that we humans have been eating grains...the last 10,000 years...until then we were hunter gatherers and our digestive systems are capable of digesting a paleo diet. Genetically Europeans are the most likely to develop an allergic reaction to gluten, soy and dairy products for this reason. It has been posited that the genes that cause these diseases are triggered by some unknown event...stress, antibiotics etc., or in the case of older people the result of years of damage from unknown gluten allergies.

It is also true that Monsanto has been engineering wheat to contain a much higher gluten content than has been true in the past. It makes me wonder how much of a correlation there is to this and the food allergies that children are suffering with.

Just some thoughts.

[bemildred]

3. Plastics and de-tuned immune systems, IMHO. nt

[lightningandsnow]

4. It's not that simple.

I have a latex allergy, the direct result of a surgery I had when I was a toddler. Early exposure to latex, through surgery and such, actually can cause latex allergies, rather than preventing them. This is why so many people with Spina Bifida have serious latex allergies.

I also, out of nowhere, developed a shellfish allergy at the age of 16. By then, my immune system had been exposed to all kinds of stuff; this theory doesn't really explain late-onset allergies.

Allergies are also genetic in some cases; when I was working in a hospital converting people's medical records to digital format, I came across a patient with a buckwheat allergy, which is very rare. Her father had the same allergy.

Basically, I don't think the cause of allergies is something that can be summed up in one sentence.

[Recursion]

5. There was a "This American Life" episode about this

Guy has asthma and arthritis, is going crazy from it, goes to Africa, gets hookworms, and is fine after that.

[dhpgetsit]

6. Your immune system needs exercise too.

[Stuckinthebush]

7. This is why the 30 second rule applies in my house

My kids have amazing immune systems!

:D

[bhikkhu]

8. Roundup-Ready fast food?

...there's so much crap in our systems, the mystery is that we aren't all mysteriously ill.