Allergies

Hay fever, asthma, nut allergies, babies allergic to cow’s milk inhibiting the mother from drinking cow’s milk during the breastfeeding period. This is but a small number of allergies that many of us contend with.

Borders demarcate populations. This can be useful in the search for answers. On the one side we have lots of people that exhibit symptoms relating to allergies and on the other side barely a sniffle. Genetically similar people, separated by the political boundary and a difference in how they live. Across the border far more people are coming forward with tales of their allergies than those on this side. Something in the environment, the food they eat, the water they drink etc could account for the difference seen. We shall assume that certain groups are not simply hypochondriacs, though this is not to be discounted. I would check the data and how it is recorded first. Too many statistical studies have fundamental design flaws.

If you believe that hay fever is a modern thing, aka something that has been about for just a hundred years or so, please think again. Such irritating seasonal discomfort has been noted going back as far as the Middle Ages. It may have been something people suffered since ‘the beginning of time’. Rose fever AD950 is held within Arabic writings.

Exposure

We are exposed to a wide range of chemicals. Flame retardants in furniture alone have been shown to have a causal link to various ailments. Coatings on cooking equipment. Coatings on clothing. On the plus side many things have become significantly safer as the years have passed. Asbestos has been banned. Lead removed from fuels and paints.

Children living near a lead/tin processing factory suffered in horrible ways when the factory upped production by removing air filters leading to the chimneys. This is a one cause issue. One source, one outcome. However, it is the exposure to a cocktail of chemicals that is most commonly detrimental to our health. Lots of different chemicals. Each in their own right not too troublesome, but as a collection they are harmful.

We can reduce our exposure if we so choose. We can limit the amount of perfumes and deodorants that we apply directly to our skin. We can opt for basic cleaning goods rather than the more toxic scented varieties. We need not worry about the plethora of things that seem to be out to kill us. Moderation will work.

If I were to apply for funding to examine the next thing in this article, I guarantee I would not succeed. I doubt anyone would give me money to explore the idea that we are over vaccinating our children. Anyone that dares to mention problems relating to vaccines is socially distanced, viewed as a nut job and shunned. Each individual vaccine has been checked thoroughly. They are safe for sure. However, in the UK we have gone from under twenty to seventy-two. Would fifty be enough on balance? Who knows, who wants to know.

We may check to see if our immune system copes well, but how do you check other areas of mind and body in this regard. Whatever the case, I would rather put up with my hay fever than suffer a bout of measles or polio. Proving that fifty vaccines is better than seventy-two will not be easy. I doubt that vaccine side effects would account for all the allergies that we see.

Are allergies linked to antibiotics we may wonder. Meat will contain some antibiotics even if the animals are killed a good while after the last dose is administered. Antibiotics play havoc with the gut and the micro biome. I avoid taking antibiotics as far as possible. As anecdotal evidence that counts for nought, but I mention anyway, in the ten years since I have last taken a course, my hay fever has neither got less troublesome nor more. It has not made a jot of difference. I do admit that I had hoped it might.

If you or your son or you daughter or you friend, or your uncle for that matter, is forever diligently avoiding nuts and food containing nuts for risk of a holiday in heaven with no return ticket, some answers would be gladly received. Ultra-low exposure therapy might be productive for some. New treatments are always just around the corner. Until then we may have to wait and see.

I won’t regurgitate what I have written in the book regarding diets. I will though, direct your thinking towards what we don’t eat. That matters as much as what we eat. What our diet lacks matters greatly. It matters as much as what our diet contains too much off. Referring back to the ‘similar’ people situation and what that could help explain. What if food prices, exercise regimes etc aid the difference in some allergy rates.

If you want to do something, then maybe look at the main risks. Cut down. Lower your exposure where possible, lower in areas that doesn’t impinge on the joy of life.