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BS: Origins of nut allergies
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Subject: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: Will Fly Date: 15 Dec 11 - 06:19 AM Some weeks ago, my elder grandson, age 4, had a reaction after eating a piece of cake in a restaurant - he developed a red face, severe headache and was violently sick. He was OK after a few hours, but the doctor recommended an allergy test - which he had last week. The test was pretty conclusive in showing that he has an allergy to tree nuts (Brazil, almond, cashew, etc.), but not peanuts, which are classed as a legume. So now we know. A casual glance at Wikipedia tells me that tree nut allergy affects millions of people worldwide and is on the increase. What interests me is whether nut allergy - which can cause anaphylaxis and even death - is a comparatively modern phenomenon, whether it has always existed, or somewhere in between. If it has existed but is increasing, is this because of factors such as: growing use of chemicals in nut production; complex changes in diet, etc. Or has it always been around but unrecognised for what it is? Anyone here got ideas as to origins? A Spanish friend of mine tells me that such nut allergies are "virtually unheard of in Spain" - but is her viewpoint skewed and, if not skewed, what's the world distribution of the allergy? And so on. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: Keith A of Hertford Date: 15 Dec 11 - 06:29 AM It is an un-answered question. There are only theories. All allergies, including asthma, have increased dramatically and continue to do so. It is the immune system treating a harmless protein as an invader. The plethora of chemicals that we are all exposed to in the modern environment has been suggested. Over-zealous hygiene has also been implicated. The theory goes that if the imune system does not encounter any pathogens, it may just lock on to anything that turns up. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: GUEST,Wesley S Date: 15 Dec 11 - 08:18 AM As far as allergies go I'm allergic to Brazil nuts { my only nut allergy } and have been since the early 1960's. Gilled fish too - not shellfish. Who knows why? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: GUEST, Eb Date: 15 Dec 11 - 11:41 AM Another theory holds that allergies and other life-threatening ailments, including asthma and even diabetes, are more prevalent because, thanks to modern medicine, more people with them survive and breed. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: GUEST,an eminent food research scientist Date: 15 Dec 11 - 12:19 PM "Origins of nut allergies" ? Nuts !!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 15 Dec 11 - 12:23 PM I'm with you, Eb. In the olden days a victim simply wouldn't have lived very long, partly because nobody would suspect that nuts were the cause. As for "The plethora of chemicals that we are all exposed to in the modern environment has been suggested," I'm convinced somebody would suggest that if I asked why I had twisted my ankle. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: Bill D Date: 15 Dec 11 - 01:08 PM "...partly because nobody would suspect that nuts were the cause." And that provided witch doctors with job security for centuries..... and still does in places. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: GUEST,Wesley S Date: 15 Dec 11 - 01:12 PM I love it when you look at a jar of peanuts and printed on the side it says : "Warning - contains peanuts ". |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: autolycus Date: 15 Dec 11 - 03:19 PM In Feb. I ad a severe gall bladder infection and nearly died when my pulse was racing a twice normal speed. After, I asked a nurse if people had my condition say 500 years ago, and he w=said yes. I asked what would have happened to them and he said,"They'd have died of unknown causes." |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: autolycus Date: 15 Dec 11 - 03:41 PM There are books on the history of nut allergies. Having googled a look at same, another thing is being fingered. The author [with a long list of letters after her name] of one of them says the cause she's found is too shocking to come out with without the reader taking in some of the background. She suggests that the contents of some injections against other diseases now contain elements that enable particular foods, peanuts for example, to get thru our immune system. Put that another way, some medines, designed for one event, as a byproduct can weaken the immune system to invaders from elsewhere. This is therefore a variant of the excessive hygiene effect. The myth of the Hydra springs to my mind. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 15 Dec 11 - 04:05 PM Treatment for correction of peanut allergy has been successful, but requires a specialist's attention and treatment over a period of time. Hard to tell why there seems to be an increase in recent years. Many allergies are rare- I had an employee who was strongly impacted by oranges. Someone eating one in the next room would cause her to break out and prolonged exposure could be dangerous to her life. We were careful not to eat oranges or bring them into the building where she worked. A professor of mine had severe allergic reactions to cucumbers. On field trips we had to avoid cafes where they were being used in salads, etc.- he could detect them from outside the cafe ! I have problems with vinegar and stay away from it. I can't eat yogurt that is not cooked without nausea, but the effects have not been serious. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: GUEST,mg Date: 15 Dec 11 - 05:06 PM It is a great tragedy, especially for the starving..they found that adding a tablespoon or so of peanut butter to the gruel or whatever they fed starving babies had an absolutely remarkable effect on their survival rate. I find I can personally survive for short periods on peanuts alone, which is important given that I live in a tsunami zone and could be without much food for a while...so to remove that from our food supply...which they essentially have in some places due to people having these allergies..is a great problem. mg |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 15 Dec 11 - 06:41 PM mg, I always enjoyed the peanut snack when traveling by air. Now I carry a supply. Like you, they are a favorite food of mine. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: MarkS Date: 15 Dec 11 - 11:02 PM Unless you travel US Airways. They have eliminated the peanut snack. Of course in their case it is because they are cheap. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: Keith A of Hertford Date: 16 Dec 11 - 03:31 AM Asthma has long been known and diagnosed. There really is no doubt that an unexplained pandemic has occurred. An allergic reaction is not a sign of a weakened immune system, but a strong immune system attacking the wrong stimuli. As it is a response to chemicals in the body, there is a stronger likelihood of a link with environmental chemicals than for a twisted ankle! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: GUEST,Bluesman Date: 16 Dec 11 - 05:18 AM Regarding nut allergies here, I find it is just best to ingore their posts and not reply. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 16 Dec 11 - 10:51 AM A pandemic? First let's consider that 1. There are more allergy sufferers than ever because there are more people than ever. 7,000,000,000, give or take. An unchanging percentage of a bigger population = more sufferers. 2. There is more communication than ever. Because of the Internet and the media, we hear about cases we never would have heard about before. For example, I in Kansas City hear about Will's grandson in England. That wouldn't have happened in 1950. 3. Because of increasing education and awareness, people who would never have thought about allergies (describing an attack as bad luck, evil spirits, God's will, etc) now are aware of the true nature of the problem. 4. Because of awareness, people who would not have survived childhood are growing up and having children who may inherit the problem. They may even marry others who also have problems. It would be difficult to quantify all the above, but it would be foolish to ignore it and declare a pandemic. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: Keith A of Hertford Date: 16 Dec 11 - 11:50 AM Leenia, I said that specifically about asthma. There has been 60% increase in the incidence rate in children (not number of cases) since 1980. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: Keith A of Hertford Date: 16 Dec 11 - 12:48 PM From a studies carried out on 12 year olds in a region of Wales in 1973 and 1988. The prevalence of a history of wheeze at any time had increased from 17% to 22%, while that of a history of asthma at any time had increased from 6% to 12%. Current asthma had increased from 4% to 9%, but wheezing in the past year not attributed to asthma had remained at 6%. The exercise provocation tests suggested that both mild and severe asthma had become more common. Increases had also occurred in the frequencies of a history of eczema (from 5% to 16%) and of hay fever (from 9% to 15%). |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 16 Dec 11 - 01:21 PM This month's journal.
Pitchforth E., et.al., "A qualitative study of families of a child with a nut allergy.," Chronic Illness, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK, 2011 Dec;7(4):255-66.
CONCLUSION: "In many ways, nut allergy may be considered a form of disability, because it imposes social barriers on participating fully in society."
New School rules
No Nutter-Fluffer sandwhich
Dogs sniffing lunch bags
It is getting so hairy,
Could anything become sillier?
Sincerely, "Imposing Social Barriers" - the foundation of British society - can you now have a blue-plackard to announce this form of diability? How much insurance can you get? For all but 20% it is permanent - that MUST be worth a few quid each month. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: autolycus Date: 16 Dec 11 - 01:29 PM I had to stop delicious peanut butter after a local practice nurse said it was a bearer of not-good cholesteral. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: Donuel Date: 16 Dec 11 - 03:30 PM There are peanut butters out there which do not add all that hydrogenated oil. Many peanut butters are so adulterated that they are like brown cold cream than food. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 16 Dec 11 - 04:28 PM Pure peanut butter is available in most supermarkets, read the label. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: autolycus Date: 17 Dec 11 - 01:08 AM Q,Q. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 17 Dec 11 - 06:48 AM As a child (forties) I had never even heard of asthma, and never saw anyone at school wheezing etc. No-one had an allergy either. If they'd all died as babies, which would have stopped them breeding, why then would these conditions become prevalent in later decades? There are no huge figures for neonatal or childhood deaths in those periods. It must be an acquired thing and not congenital. As a teacher all my working life, I saw more and more asthma, until by the eighties nearly every other child came to school with an inhaler. We had adreniline epipens ready for severe allergic reactions. We staff used to wonder why. The main changes to life now are central heating and chemicals in food and the environment. We were bathed only once a week, and kept on the same clothes all that time. There were no synthetic materials, only wool, cotton and linen. We played outside all weathers, and got thoroughly mucky. We ate 'organic' home-cooked food. Do any of these facts give any clues? Maybe. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 17 Dec 11 - 06:51 AM adrenaline |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: Will Fly Date: 17 Dec 11 - 07:09 AM I've had asthma since I was about 4 - and I'm 67 now - and it started when I lived in Glasgow, a notoriously dirty city in the 1940s. It's come and gone with varying degrees of severity over the years until now, when a simple twice-a-day inhaler keeps it well at bay and I never wheeze. I can't recall other incidences of it in my parents families, so I don't think it's a genetic thing. We didn't have central heating, closed windows and carpets everywhere (but it's probably true that they don't help). We had coal and gas fires, and linoleum! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 17 Dec 11 - 03:39 PM Never heard of asthma? You lived on another planet. I remember schoolmates (c. 1930) who suffered, often having to receive care from the school nurse. This was in the desert southwest; clean air at the time- I think that the schoolmates with the problem came to benefit from a clean environment. (Both environment and genetics contribute. The interplay seems to be a factor in many allergies.) Many with tuberculosis also came to the high southwest, and in my town there was a 'sanitorium' devoted to their treatment. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: Dave the Gnome Date: 17 Dec 11 - 03:46 PM Allergies are weird things. I have perenial allergic rhinitis (Hay fever all year round!) probably due to dust. I think it is more likely to be pollution based but until I can move out of the city I will not know. I am 58 years old and was fine until I was around 25 when I developed Asthma. Oddest allergy I have though is to smoked mackeral. Any other mackeral is fine. Any other smoked fish is fine. But smoked mackeral has me doubled up with stomach cramps and unable to function for about 4 hours. Maybe it is a Gnome thing! Cheers DtG |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: GUEST,Eb Date: 18 Dec 11 - 02:43 AM That calls for Holy Mackeral! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 18 Dec 11 - 07:24 AM I certainly didn't live on another planet, Q, but in a suburb of West London, and well remember 'pea souper' fogs. All fires were coal and in winter the smoke was very smelly in the air outside. But I can truthfully say I never heard of or saw any asthma during my schooldays, including at grammar school, or even at Uni in Edinburgh. I just hadn't come across it, and had never heard the word mentioned. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: autolycus Date: 18 Dec 11 - 12:14 PM "Bernardino Ramazzini (1633-1714 AD), known to some as the father of sports medicine, detected a link between asthma and organic dust. He also recognized exercise-induced asthma. "At the beginning of the 20th century asthma was seen as a psychosomatic disease - an approach that probably undermined any medical breakthroughs at the time. During the 1930s to 1950s, asthma was known as one of the holy seven psychosomatic illnesses. "Asthma was described as psychological, with treatment often involving, as its primary component, psychoanalysis and other 'talking cures'. A child's wheeze was seen as a suppressed cry for his or her mother. Psychoanalysts thought that patients with asthma should be treated for depression. This psychiatric theory was eventually refuted and asthma became known as a physical condition. "Asthma, as an inflammatory disease, was not really recognized until the 1960s when anti-inflammatory medications started being used." from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/asthma/asthma-history.php Presumaby the idea about asthma being unknown before the 60s is implied in the last sentence of the quote. The beginning of the articles says asthma was known in Ancient Egypt and before even then. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: GUEST,mg Date: 18 Dec 11 - 12:59 PM I never heard of people having ear infections when I was growing up in a50s..now it seems kids are plagued with them. mg |
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Subject: RE: BS: Origins of nut allergies From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 18 Dec 11 - 03:16 PM Yes, mg, quite true. Now they're all having grommits fitted! |
