Posted on 05/17/2009 7:28:33 AM PDT by yankeedame
"...Over the past decade there has been a huge rise in the number of Britons suffering from hay-fever and eczema as a result of allergies.
As many as one in four people is affected, and ...
... it's not just children who are affected.... increasingly, middle-aged and older people are developing allergies for the first time....they suddenly suffer a reaction to something that for decades did them no harm.
'In the case of food allergies and anaphylaxis, I now see more adults than children - we are inundated with cases,' says Andrew Williams, a consultant nurse... 'Allergic rhinitis and asthma are also becoming more common among adults.'
Many women suddenly develop an allergy during the menopause...
'Another common time seems to be after having been in hospital.'
Often the allergies involve foods such as nuts or shellfish. 'The reactions tend to come on quickly and ...can be very surprising and very frightening - and potentially fatal.'
An allergy occurs when the body over-reacts to the presence of something harmless and produces antibodies and chemicals such as histamine in response. It is the body's way of trying to get rid of the perceived invader as rapidly as possible....
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
No, because I am also severely allergic to all metals except yellow gold. I carry a card in my wallet, next to my driver’s license.
Bingo.
Is your dad Catholic? Most devout Catholics are allergic to Latex.
yeah, I know I have had to give up quite a few things .... like chocolate for instance.......... ~sob~
How about this theory for the huge increase:
1) Children's clothes are no longer being dried in the open (ex. on clotheslines), where they became imbedded with small amounts of pollen etc., which de-sensitized people as they wore the clothing.
2) Homes are now air-conditioned, with filters, and children spend less time outside. Again, they are not being exposed to small amounts of environmental allergens early in life.
Have at me Freepers!
Exactly. Global warming is the most likely explanation of anything you can’t explain.
I'm glad I read through the responses before replying, lol. I thought you were making some sort of joke about condoms.
I had an allergy to acrylic fabric in childhood, and wool too, so I could only wear cotton. Grew out of the acrylic allergy, but wool still breaks me out in a rash, as does anything with lanolin in it.
It could be genetic. When you take survival of the fittest out of the equation, as modern medicine has in recent years, the gene pool goes to pot.
Indirectly, they do:
“According to Allergy UK, this might be because pollen is being released earlier in the year, adding to the overall amount of pollen in the atmosphere.”
I’ve often thought the same thing. The huge increase in allergies seems to have begun along about the time everybody started worrying about making their houses more airtight to save on heating and a/c bills. Prior to that, when most threw their windows open in warm weather, I just don’t recall so many people with severe allergies. I remember knowing just one asthma sufferer in my childhood, and recall feeling so sorry for him.
Wall to wall carpeting and vinyl, replacing hardwood and tile, in those sealed up houses can’t help, either. Came along at about the same time, too. Even well-vacuumed carpeting is going to retain a surprising amount of insect parts and excrement, shedded skin cells, etcetera, not to mention the outgassing of the fiber and backing itself.
Another thing would be the global supply chain, with foods most often coming from a long way away. Local foods, local allergens, enabling the body to acclimate.
Shrimp is on my no-no list, too. The funny thing is that I hated shrimp when I was a little kid, grew to like them, and then noticed my chest and throat tightening one day when I was eating them. I am allergic to about a dozen other things, too, now but shrimp is the one that scares me. I am in my 30s and most of these allergies have only developed in the last five to ten years. Latex bothers me, too, but very ripe or cooked bananas don’t.
Metals... That is a rare one, Im sorry for that..
I am not “having at it” because I agree with you and your point about the children’s clothes is one I haven’t thought of, but makes sense. I do believe we don’t carry enough natural antibodies anymore.
I grew up thinking I was shrimp allergic I had several bad reactions in my life. When my girls showed their allergies we did a panel on the whole family (something that could not happen with socialized medicine)..
Turns out I am not shrimp allergic, but allergic to certain preservatives used on ships with nor refrigeration.
I know how you feel about the scallops because shrimp is about my favorite thing and I want years without it..
Shrimp, Fish, Nuts, and Peanuts are generally going to be the more scary allergies..
Peanuts in particular follow a distinctly non linear progression of severity..
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