Nut allergies -- a Yuppie invention

Los Angeles Times ^ | 01/09/2009 | Joel Stein

[Responsibility2nd]

Your kid doesn't have an allergy to nuts. Your kid has a parent who needs to feel special. Your kid also spends recess running and screaming, "No! Stop! Don't rub my head with peanut butter!"

Yes, a tiny number of kids have severe peanut allergies that cause anaphylactic shock, and all their teachers should be warned, handed EpiPens and given a really expensive gift at Christmas. But unless you're a character on "Heroes," genes don't mutate fast enough to have caused an 18% increase in childhood food allergies between 1997 and 2007. And genes certainly don't cause 25% of parents to believe that their kids have food allergies, when 4% do. Yuppiedom does.

~snip~

Parents may think they are doing their kids a favor by testing them and being hyper-vigilant about monitoring what they eat, but it's not cool to freak kids out. Only 20% of kids who get a positive allergy test result need treatment. And a 2003 study showed that kids who were told they were allergic to peanuts had more anxiety and felt more physically restricted than if they had diabetes. "It's anxiety-producing to imagine that having a snack in kindergarten could be deadly," Christakis said. Remember, this is a demographic so easily panicked that, equipped with only circles and dots, it invented an inoculation to cooties.

~snip some more~

So bring back nuts to schools. If parents need to panic about a food, at least go with seafood allergies. Those fish sticks are disgusting.

[mamelukesabre]

HA!

Yep. Things have really changed. Used to be you kept crap like that a secret lest the wolves turn on you and eat you. NOw it’s a bragging right.

I don’t know what’s happening to this country. It seems like I don’t even belong here anymore.

[Old Professer]

11 posts in 55 minutes and not one of them supportable by any medical literature; apparently you fit the author’s characterisation.

[Yaelle]

Also, 100% of all fish sticks or any battered frozen fish product has (or does not prove it does not have, on the list of ingredients) MSG, and I am deadly sensitive to it. I’m glad I am, for I have learned of the neurotoxicity of msg. It hides under so many euphemisms on labels, that even some products who legally SAY they don’t contain it, do. Not one package of breaded fish is free of at least “natural flavoring” which could well be MSG.

[mupcat]

That is really interesting, especially the part about ethnic locations. Never would have thought about rice, and your latest reply mentioning chocolate.....now THAT would be horrible for me. So assume you avoid that also?

[HomeschoolMomma]

This will sound bad...but your dog sounds like my son!!!! Tested for parasites, worms (missions trip to Peru) - kept losing weight - 6’2 and weighed 120 and dropping! But would eat and eat! Found out celiac! (gluten intolernace -wheat “allergy” for lack of easier explanation and space)

Dogs can be gluten/wheat intolerant too - and it will cause similar symptoms as in humans! It is the LAST thing doctors think of. Get your skinny dog off of what he is eating now, check your labels, and don’t give him anything with wheat or gluten!!! Give it about a month or two - you’ll see a difference.

When you are gluten intolerant, although you eat, the reaction from the wheat gluten causes the cillia in your intestines to die, so no matter what you eat, you can’t absorb the nutrients! They add gluten to dog food. Therefore you just get skinnier and skinnier. In infants, they used to call it failure to thrive! Your vet may not have thought about it or even know about it or even! Your dog is literally dying every time he eats.

[mamelukesabre]

That’s what I’ve discovered about milk. THe more I stay away from it, the more sensitive I become to it.

What really scares me is that I fear it is NON-reversible. I think If I really start going back to milk in a big way, I won’t be able to get back my milk digesting abilities. It used to only cause gas and some minor hand and face puffiness. Now it causes gas, severe bloating, and severe heartburn and acid reflux, sometime to the point of vomiting.

[Yaelle]

Since getting a lot of immunizations all at once, in basic training, I react to nuts.

Hmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Could this be part of the problem??? Unusual protein allergies (tree nuts, shellfish are the most deadly allergies and unusual proteins) coming from an overworked immune system, due to the heavy vaccination of INFANTS these days?????

[driftless2]

"legumes"

A very good point. If people are allergic to peanuts, then they would possibly be allergic to other members of the pea family. I've never heard of anyone being allergic to peas.

[mamelukesabre]

Gosh, I wish I had gluten problems. I used to be able to eat like crazy(like my dog) and never gain weight. But somewhere between 30 and 40 I lost that ability.

[HomeschoolMomma]

11 posts in 55 minutes and not one of them supportable by any medical literature; apparently you fit the author’s characterisation.

Old professer - before you go spouting off, I will defend my fellow FReeper. Google celiac disease and gluten intolerance. YES it is supported by medical fact!!!

As a parent of a child who cannot eat wheat and who spends nealy 4 times the average grocery bill because of the special dietary needs - it's not because my child needs to feel special. It's because my child needs to LIVE!!!!!

I have seen the pictures from the gastro of the damage to his intestines. I have watched a normally healthy 17 year old lose 30 lbs despite eating healthy meals before being diagnosed.

So I suggest, before you start accusing others, you do some research - then get back to us - hopefully with an apology.

Heres one to start with! www.celiac.com

[Old Professer]

Bad link.

But at least you’re trying to support his notions.

[aruanan]

People who have not been there should not judge - severe allergies are real!

But they are extremely infrequent. I once had a lot of allergy testing done and found that I was "allergic" to lots and lots of things--especially cockroaches and cats. But a reaction to a skin allergy test usually doesn't have much to do with everyday life.

And lactose intolerance is either a genetic disorder or an example of environmentally-induced decreased production of lactase post-weaning, but not an allergy. If you lack the enzyme to break down lactose into galactose and glucose, it'll just go on through until it reaches the friendly gut bacteria that are able to digest it, producing a lot of gas in the process. If your kids are not congenitally lactose intolerant, the best way to make sure that they do not become lactose intolerant is to make sure they keep drinking milk and consuming dairy products after being weaned. This will maintain the production of lactase.

It would be interesting to follow vegans and see how much more misery their children experience throughout life by having become environmentally lactose intolerant because of their parents' choice of lifestyle.

Many food allergies, including milk allergies, are believed to have been caused by exposure to foods earlier in infancy before the leaky junctions of the intestinal lumen have sealed leading to an immune response to various proteins that would normally never be able to cross the gut epithelium. Colostrum in human mother's milk helps to block these junctions.

[dan1123]

Fish sticks, fish fillets, imitation crab meat, surimi, etc. are all Alaska Pollock. It's a white fish that is the biggest catch (3 million tons!) of every year in the north Pacific.

[HomeschoolMomma]

But at least you’re trying to support his notions.

www.celiac.com

Try typing in in your browser!!!!

From that web site!!!!

http://www.celiac.com/articles/572/1/A-Summary-of-Celiac-Disease-and-Gluten-Intolerance-by-Scott-Adams/Page1.html

Celiac disease, also known as gluten intolerance, is a genetic disorder that affects 1 in 1331 Americans. Symptoms of celiac disease can range from the classic features, such as diarrhea, weight loss, and malnutrition, to latent symptoms such as isolated nutrient deficiencies but no gastrointestinal symptoms. The disease mostly affects people of European (especially Northern European) descent, but recent studies show that it also affects Hispanic, Black and Asian populations as well1. Those affected suffer damage to the villi (shortening and villous flattening) in the lamina propria and crypt regions of their intestines when they eat specific food-grain antigens (toxic amino acid sequences) that are found in wheat, rye, and barley3. Oats have traditionally been considered to be toxic to celiacs, but recent scientific studies have shown otherwise. This research is ongoing, however, and it may be too early to draw solid conclusions.

Because of the broad range of symptoms celiac disease presents, it can be difficult to diagnose. The symptoms can range from mild weakness, bone pain, and aphthous stomatitis to chronic diarrhea, abdominal bloating, and progressive weight loss.3 If a person with the disorder continues to eat gluten, studies have shown that he or she will increase their chances of gastrointestinal cancer by a factor of 40 to 100 times that of the normal population4. Further, gastrointestinal carcinoma or lymphoma develops in up to 15 percent of patients with untreated or refractory celiac disease3. It is therefore imperative that the disease is quickly and properly diagnosed so it can be treated as soon as possible.

Based on the figure mentioned above we can extrapolate the total number of people in the United States with celiac disease: 2.18 million (based on the total population: 290,356,0285). It is very important that doctors understand just how many people have this disease so that routine testing for it is done to bring the diagnosis rate in line with the diseases epidemiology. Testing is fairly simple and involves screening the patients blood for antigliadin (AGA) and endomysium antibodies (EmA), and/or doing a biopsy on the areas of the intestines mentioned above, which is still the standard for a formal diagnosis. The only acceptable treatment for celiac disease is strict adherence to a 100% gluten-free diet for life. An adherence to a gluten-free diet can prevent almost all complications caused by the disease3. A gluten-free diet means avoiding all products that contain wheat, rye and barley, or any of their derivatives. This is a difficult task as there are many hidden sources of gluten found in the ingredients of many processed foods. This site is designed to help people with celiac disease get diagnosed, and make life easier after their diagnosis. Those who are interested can read the story of my diagnosis.

LOOK REFERENCES - AND THEY'RE FROM DOCTORS - OOH!!! IS THIS MEDICAL RESEARCH TO BACK IT UP?????

1. Alessio Fasano, MD, et. al., Arch Intern Med. 2003;163:286-292.

2. Gastroenterology, April, 1996 First Epidemiological Study of Gluten Intolerance in the United States. By Karoly Horvath, MD, Ph.D., et. al..

3. New England Journal of Medicine, May 2, 1996 -- Volume 334, Number 18, The Many Faces of Celiac Disease by Charles H. Halsted, MD

4. Goggins, et. al. Celiac Disease and Other Nutrient Related Injuries to the Gastrointestinal Tract The American Journal of Gastroenterology. Vol. 89, No. 8, pages S2 - S13, 1994.

5. United States Census Bureau, February 27, 2003.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

She may have an unusual parasite that is not a typical worm and not prone to the usual treatments. But the answer to this is an atypical vermifuge: pumpkin.

Known since the 12th Century, it is unusual in that it does not kill the parasites, just knocks them out, immobilizes them, so needs to be followed with a canine laxative, to flush the still living parasites out.

You begin by making a mash of about a pumpkin’s worth of ground raw pumpkin seed and some pumpkin meat for bulk through a meat grinder.

Dogs (or pigs) with such parasites are often voracious eaters, so you don’t have to stint. It is very safe, and was even used as a safe way for pregnant women to expel parasites without risking their babies.

Some hours later, this is followed up with an oil based laxative, of mineral, Castor or olive oil.

My own experience with this was indirect, as I had a lab/husky mix who was alleged to have a weak stomach, and had a restrictive diet as a result. The dog, however, attacked and ate an entire ripe pumpkin, and half of a second one, right off the vine, and from that point had “a cast iron stomach”, and ate normally for the rest of his life. Even challenging food like Szechuan Chinese.

[The Great RJ]

My older brother has severe nut allergies, but he is the only one I know with the problem. While severe allergies to nuts exist they are relatively rare and are not to the extent where whole schools need to be declared nut allergen free.

[muawiyah]

Amazingly the term "celiac" shows up in 3,520,000 citations on the internet, and "gluten intolerance" shows up 260,000 times.

If you want to dig into some research it's there including scientific studies that tie specific alleles to the condition.

I don't think anyone here has any need to scientifically demonstrate that this condition exists ~ folks with the condition know all about it, and those without the condition are just lucky.

[muawiyah]

I've known several Chippewa Indians over the years. They all had the rotating sensitivity to chocolate, coffee and tea. First you're allergic to one, so you use the others until you get allergic to one of them, then you go back to the other, and so on. Kind of strange but apparantly the angry t-cells have a limited memory on that one.

Lady I worked with had to change from one to the other every few months.

[o_zarkman44]

I have heard that in the study of ying and yang, a ancient Chinese philosophy, that people adapt to locally produced food that are indiginous to the areas they live in. For example, a bananna will have no effect on someone in central America, but may clash with someone in New York.
Pineapple or coconut fine in Hawaii, but not so healthy for someone in Iowa.
American Indians lived off of the local food fare like venison and fish, berrys and nuts. When europeans introduced other foods into the hemisphere, the Indian people started suffering from illness they had never experienced. Their immune systems were adversely affected by food items not indiginous to their local habitat.

I don’t know for certain if this is a valid arguement for health problems. But it certainly in theory could have a bearing on many food allergies based on ethnic heritage.

[muawiyah]

To a degree different populations around the world are adapted to what turns out to be one of their major food resources.

For example, there are studies of Europeans that point to 500 relatively recent (w/in last 5,000 years) gene mutations that enable them to consume milk as adults. The Chinese, derived from the same Ice Age population, do not have those mutations but they have their own large number of mutations that appear to enhance their ability to consume rice.

With wheat, the argument is that the genes for Celiac (gluten intolerance) arose in a population (the Sa'ami) with no access to grain. On the other hand, there's a plant, Birthwort (Aristolochia clematis), that likes to grow in wheat fields. It contaminates wheat with a poison that can wipe out your liver and kidneys in a couple of days.

Almost certainly a population with Celiac would survive such contamination. The recent finding of a number of alleles that can cause Celiac implies that humanity has faced a crisis regarding Birthwort many times before.

Even the Pentatuch focuses on the need to clear wheatfields before sowng the grain ~ take a look at: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/90839.php