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Underground > Laboratory >

Childhood allergies

20:18 / 23.08.05

I quite frequently have a discussion with my boss on the topic of allergies and similar ailments (asthma, excema -things that don't really go away from childhood, basically) and we have different view on the matter. Xe argues that the rise of such things comes from the increase in additives in food post-WW2. I argue that these things were just as prevelant before then, but medical research, a superior National Health Service and widespread knowledge of / paranoia about such things mean that people with such conditions are living longer -and that hitherto lots of cases of infant mortality were from undiagnosed conditions which would now be prevented or tested for.

I suspect that the reason we never come to any conclusions about this is because neither of us really have any knowledge of the topic -or rather, I know what I think is pure conjecture so I'd be interested in evidence either way. So, does anyone on the board know of research into such things? Or if not, what do you think are the most plausible causes?

Sjaak at the Shoe Shop

06:19 / 24.08.05

I don't have any research at hand but know there is quite a lot on the subject. I have been following this recently (it just happens when you have children), and many allergies seem to be related to (limited) exposure of the immune system at young age(and thereby training).
For example, children spending a lot of time outdoors, or growing up on a farm with extensive contact with animals develop less allergies.
Secondly, the same statistics apply for children who go to a creche vs kids who are brought up at home (although the creche kid will be having a cold every month, but that is something different)
What does not help is that modern houses are too well insulated and their ventilation is poor, plus everything is just too clean. Kids need to train their immune system! So if you see one drop his sandwich on the floor, dont stop him from eating it..

I do believe there is an increase in the occurence of allergies, as our environment becomes more and more sheltered. It would be interesting to know if there are less allergies in rural areas. Anyone?

Other research is looking at what happens when a baby is first exposed to certain types of food. Timing seems to have an influence there. But these factors would have been less subject to change historically.

lord henry strikes back

15:08 / 26.08.05

This article is a few years old now, but raises an interesting point. Basically it relates to the rise in lactose intolerance, an allergy-type condition in which people react to milk and dairy products. What has been discovered is that lactose intolerance is not an illness at all. The vast majority of humans are naturally lactose intolerant and it is only the tendency to give cows milk to children that teaches the body to deal with it.

The recent increase in cases of lactose intolerance in the west has in fact been due to parents not giving cows milk to their kids, instead opting for soy milk or other drinks, and so the body not getting this early education. In populations where drinking cows milk is not the done thing, lactose intolerance is still the norm.

01:40 / 29.08.05

Another question as well; are allergy rates going up, or is it a case of better diagnosis? I wonder if a lot of the kids simply written off as "sickly" 40-50 years ago actually suffered allergies of one sort or another. My mom grew up in Pittsburgh, PA in the 1950s when it was still a town of heavy industry, and suffered terribly from asthma (add pollution, poverty, and really out of it parents into the mix, it is a wonder she lived to adulthood). So don't forget to add increased pollution into the mix; it might not all be the fault of neurotic soccer moms boiling everything that their children might touch.

10:30 / 30.08.05

Cheers for the link wooton, next time we have the same debate I will be able to start a sentence with 'Well, I was recently reading the New Scientist...' That's got me interested in the genetic basis for allergies as well; the fact that parents can be tested to ascertain the likelihood of their child having serious allergies might make them (understandably) more shy of feeding the kid foods to which people are commonly allergic. So there might be some kind of a feedback loop.

It's also made me wonder whether a child who regularly ate grass as a nipper would develop a working appendix, but I'm not the kind of person who'd want to impress their own ambitions on their child so I don't plan to try it.

I've been looking around for evidence on the asthma thing -lots of studies say that even with increased awareness it's still becoming more common (specifically this one), and others conclude that the increase isn't actually real (here). Not sure how comparable those two studies are though; probably not very as they are taken over different time periods (20 and 6 years respectively). Although as you implied Malle, a lot of children with serious asthma might have died younger in earlier times, and it could have been written down to lung disease.

12:28 / 30.08.05

I'm not entirely sure whether this is a myth or not, but I recall coming across a theory somewhere that (perhaps a bit like the lactose thing) people from different parts of the world can digest certain foods easier than others due to generations of eating the same things.

The theory is that due to the movements of much of the world's population many of us these days not only have mixed genes but are also eating a mixed diet containing ingredients from all over the globe, thus causing stress to our bodies.

10:57 / 13.07.06

In the Seventies doctors first noticed that people infected with hookworms did not seem to suffer from allergies such as asthma, and scientists have reported that Crohn's disease also does not appear in countries where the infection is rife. Pritchard wants to see if the hookworms are influencing regulatory T-cells, which seem to keep the immune responses in check. 'If we can work out how these cells are switched on, then the pharmaceutical industry could become involved.'

from here

20:09 / 14.07.06

When I was a child whenever I went to the toilet or played in mud I deliberately didnt wash my hands and sometimes purposefully put my hand in my mouth to help strengthen my body against disease. I dont even know how this concept entered my life at such an early age but I have no allergies and never got sick from doing this, Ive also only had two headaches in my entire life though of course these could be unrelated I do know of people who were raised in overly sanitary conditions who all have problems with allergies

01:11 / 20.07.06

I saw this topic and remembered an article I read a couple of weeks ago I thought might be of interest.

02:13 / 20.07.06

From that link:
"Allergy battle could be won in five years."
"The technology is based on our earlier discovery of how allergens, the substances that cause allergy, enter the body through the surface layer of cells that protect the skin and the tubes of the lungs," he said.

"Allergens from pollen or house dust mites are inhaled and then dissolve the binding material between the cells that form these protective linings; they can then enter the body by passing between the cells to cause an allergic response.

"The drugs we are developing -- called Allergen Delivery Inhibitors (ADIs) – are designed to disable these allergens so they can no longer eat through the protective cell layer and block the allergic reaction before it occurs.

"The effect will be like avoiding allergens altogether. Removing carpets and rigorous cleaning of homes are established ways to avoid allergens, but they are only partially effective because their effects do not 'travel' with allergy sufferers.

"ADIs promise to be significantly better because taking a medicine is easier than rigorous housework and pills are portable."

That seems to sort of fly in the face of (or at least be a move in the opposite direction of) all that recent stuff alluded to upthread about keeping childhood dirty being the way to avoid allergies. In other words, our bodies do OK with allergens in most cases as long as we're actually exposed to them.

In the wide view, these drugs seem a little creepy as a result. I can easily see them being overprescribed like antibiotics.

If they actually work.

02:32 / 20.07.06

It does sound a little iffy, judging by that five year figure, given.

Another study shows, that with spores from mold and mildew, it can be a plus or a minus.

08:55 / 20.07.06

My friend's Mum swears that her (now adult) children are never ill as a result of her being an appalling housewife. She said the house was always filthy, and so were they. But it's true, they're very rarely unwell.

I am dismayed to find out that there is a sound basis for the claims of lactose intolerance. It appears that there is the same sort of evidence for wheat intolerance; I've looked on Google because I know it is my friend, and there is a New Scientist article but I can't access it. I have been very dismissive of parents claiming their children are intolerant, because I am from the 'eat everything and you won't have an allergy' school of thought. It appears to have worked with me and my child, but if there really is evidence to prove that people can be lactose and wheat intolerant I take back the mean thoughts about other parents.

I've got a book somewhere about what humans should actually eat, I'll go and see if I can find it.