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Allergies

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    Allergies

    Trying to think of a an idea for a wedding cake-related story and was Googling allergies. Never heard of them when I was a kid, why have they become so much more common?

    It is thought that allergies and increased sensitivity to foods are probably environmental, and related to Western lifestyles.
    We know there are lower rates of allergies in developing countries. They are also more likely to occur in urban rather than rural areas.
    Factors may include pollution, dietary changes and less exposure to microbes, which change how our immune systems respond.
    Why the world is becoming more allergic to food - BBC News

    What we do know is that we are more allergic than ever. “If you think in terms of decades, are we seeing more food allergy now than we were 20 or 30 years ago? I think we can confidently say yes,” says Fox. “If you look at the research from the 1990s and early 2000s there is pretty good data that the amount of peanut allergy trebled in a very short period.”
    Why are food allergies in children on the rise – and is there anything parents can do to protect them? | Society | The Guardian

    Or maybe the natural world is starting to fight back.
    bloggoth

    If everything isn't black and white, I say, 'Why the hell not?'
    John Wayne (My guru, not to be confused with my beloved prophet Jeremy Clarkson)

    #2
    Gut bacteria.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by xoggoth View Post
      Trying to think of a an idea for a wedding cake-related story and was Googling allergies. Never heard of them when I was a kid, why have they become so much more common?
      Forty years ago: "Poor kid choked on a nut and died."

      Now: "Poor kid was allergic to nuts; throat swelled shut, and they died."

      Medical science advances, and things once known only to medics become common knowledge.

      Comment


        #4
        We do live in less dirt now, I think, which gives our immune system less of a work out. As NF says, there's also an element of better medical understanding and diagnosis which ultimately leads to awareness.

        Comment


          #5
          Right wingers are allergic to truth and freedom of speech. That is a fairly recent development.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by ladymuck View Post
            We do live in less dirt now, I think, which gives our immune system less of a work out.
            That reminds me of an article a few years ago....

            According to an idea called the hygiene hypothesis, exposure to germs and certain infections — especially at a young age — actually helps prime the immune system so it can defeat these microbes more easily in the future.

            Some research has suggested that the idea could partially explain why children who grow up around animals and in rural areas appear to develop conditions like asthma less often than children who don't.
            What is the hygiene hypothesis? - Business Insider

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              #7
              It's the same thing with MRSA - the more sterile the environment, the higher the risk that a bad muther***ker of a bacteria will get through.

              A bit of dirt is good.
              …Maybe we ain’t that young anymore

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by WTFH View Post
                A bit of dirt is good.
                Indeed....

                Behold some of the bacteria that grew when a boy who had been playing outside pressed his hand onto a Petri dish.

                Striking photo shows all the bacteria on an 8-year-old's hand

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                  #9
                  That's a bit gross and a bit cool too

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                    #10
                    That kid's obviously not from Norfolk.
                    Old Greg - In search of acceptance since Mar 2007. Hoping each leap will be his last.

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