Why Have Peanut Allergies Tripled in a Decade?
The rate of childhood peanut allergies has more than tripled from 1997 to 2008 (nationwide survey in Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology). Other research concluded that more than three million Americans report peanut and/or tree nut allergies; these high rates suggest a significant health burden to the population that requires attention and a response from the public health field.
The main theory for this spike in food allergies is attributed to the overly sterile environments of many households today. Schools have become flooded with anti-bacterial hand lotions and in turn banned peanuts from lunchboxes. According to Dr. Delespesse, a professor at the Université de Montréal Faculty of Medicine, “There is an inverse relationship between the level of hygiene and the incidence of allergies and autoimmune diseases. The more sterile the environment a child lives in, the higher the risk he or she will develop allergies or an immune problem in their lifetime.”
Overwhelming our bodies with germ killing agents and antibacterials leaves our immune system in a vulnerable state to substances that were previously harmless in pollen, food, and animal dander. Normally the development of the immune system is spurred by bacteria and viruses; By removing the bacteria and viruses that previously entered the body through dirt, our immune system cannot develop properly.
The new public health debate is engaged trying to pick apart the apparent trade off between sterile environemnt which have clear implications for decreasing some diseases and the seemingly related increase in autoimmune diseases.
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/why-have-peanut-allergies-tripled-in-a-decade.html?page=2
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