To wonder where the allergies go?

[Defnotsupergirl]

To start off I'm not saying there are not some very serious, life threatening allergies out there.

My wondering is why you don't come across more adults with these allergies. I work directly with 40 odd adults i.e. We share a fridge and working space etc. none of them have any allergies that I know of apart from one lady who has coeliac disease - and I'm assuming I would know if others did due to having to be careful about birthday cakes, only using certain parts of the fridge etc. no one refused cake or didn't use the fridge.

Up till four years ago I work with another group of people except about 80 of them and none had any known allergy.
None of my friends or acquaintances have ever said they have allergy problems despite me cooking for them and checking in many cases

If you compare with friends DCs school, five of the reception children in a class of 22 have some form of supposed food allergy. Apparently this is a reoccurring theme throughout the school.

Is it that people grow out of these allergies or is it the imagination of over careful parents who see an allergy every time their child vomits after a meal.

AIBU to suggest that there are not as many allergies around as is thought and that it is parents who are quick to blame simple bugs on allergies?

Please note - I again realise there are some life threatening allergies that exist and are a huge problem. This is for the other ones.

[DrDre]

It is just that they are way more common in children now. No one knows why, but allergies are much more prevalent in kids now compared to, say, 30 years ago. They are genuine allergies as well, not misdiagnosed ones.
YABU to suggest it is just parents blaming bugs on allergies, it is accepted that they are much more common now.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

No. It's that there are more allergies now.

When these children grow up they will usually still have all the allergies. .except egg which they can grow out of.

My DD has multiple tested-for allergies. I hope lots of people don't share your view that im a neurotic parent.

Allergies usually involves.huge rashes not just a quick vomit.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

No. It's that there are more allergies now.

When these children grow up they will usually still have all the allergies. .except egg which they can grow out of.

My DD has multiple tested-for allergies. I hope lots of people don't share your view that im a neurotic parent.

Allergies usually involves.huge rashes not just a quick vomit.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

Oops sorry

[Daykin]

AIBU to suggest that there are not as many allergies around as is thought and that it is parents who are quick to blame simple bugs on allergies?

Yes YABU. Who would do that?

Nor can you 'imagine' an allergy. There are very specific blood tests for allergies, even being able to test which specific proteins within the food a person is reacting to.

[zoemaguire]

Bit hard to imagine huge hives and swollen lips and tongue! There are just way more allergies about nowadays. Also kids do grow out of allergies - not just egg, but (fingers crossed!) dairy too., so that factors in as well.

[DowntonTrout]

Yes there seem to be more allergies. Plus more allergies are recognised.

There is also some confusion between intolerance and allergy. Allergy seems to have become a cover all term, which IMO, diminishes those with actual allergies.

[Elfhame]

There are more allergies now. No-one knows why they have increased.

It is not a figment of parents imagination, my children children's allergies were verified by a specialist by way of a skin prick test.

Non life threatening allergies are still unpleasant and it is unfair to expose a child to anything that will make them itchy, wheezy or uncomfortable in any way.

[MonsieurReynard]

Some do disappear with age - as a kid, strawberries made me swell up like a balloon every time (took my folks about 6 months to figure out what it was, so tried them often enough that it wasn't a one-off), and a hint of dairy would make my brother projectile vomit like a champion - both allergies were gone by mid-teens. (Maybe earlier, but mid-teens was the first time either of us re-tried our respective allergy foods).

[TheGreatHunt]

Yabu

And many people may not have sensitive allergies but might be a contact issue.

Childcare settings have to be incredibly careful.people at work can avoid things like shared kitchens etc. A colleague of mine has a but allergy which I never knew about until it came to booking a lunch !

[Defnotsupergirl]

Ok, so there are more allergies, why might this be? Is it as a society we have lost our natural resilience due to being too clean perhaps, children of children who were not allowed to play making mud pies etc? This is a genuine question, I'm about to have a DC and am keen to try to avoid these problems if possible and am keen to hear people's theories on why it may happen........

[Ithinkwerealonenow]

Yabvu

Children often grow out of allergies. Dd1 has grown out of her egg and milk allergy at the age of 6. Doesn't mean it wasn't serious and life threatening before. I'm sure I wasn't imagining the epipens, hospital trips, and the impossibility of birthday parties, restaurants, holidays, school dinners, in fact anything that wasn't prepared at home.

On the other hand, I grew into a shellfish allergy in my 20s. It's not something you would necessarily be aware of as I'm an adult and can manage it myself, without having to make all the other responsible adults around me aware of the allergy.

[Belmo]

Kids do grow out of allergies. My dd was allergic to dairy (made her whole face swell up quite dramatically) which she has grown out of, and we are going to try her again with eggs in the next few months. About 80% of children with dairy and egg allergies will grow out of them. She's also seriously allergic to peanuts - only about 20% grow out of that but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[DrDre]

No one knows why they are more prevalent. The development of allergies is poorly understood by science. It could be due to a myriad of possible reasons.

[Ithinkwerealonenow]

There are many theories, none proven. If you have a family history of atopic disease (asthma, eczema, food allergies), your dc are more likely to be prone.

It is also likely that more are diagnosed these days, as we recognise what they are - eg many years ago a child might have 'choked' to death. Today we would recognise an anaphylactic reaction.

There isn't anything you can definitively do to prevent allergies. A healthy diet high in fruit and veg is thought to help.

[Chippednailvarnish]

You sound very cynical OP. So if you don't believe children actually have allergies, why are you concerned that your children might develop them?

[Defnotsupergirl]

Exactly why I'm asking DrDre, I have found that collective reasoning and ideas can show some reoccurring causes that may help future parents and children avoid these problems. A persons experience can be a lot more helpful than reams of scientific tests.

[arethereanyleftatall]

yanbu.
You won't get many yanbu responses because the majority if people who post on your thread, will be parents of those with genuine allergies, who will ignore the bit in your post where you state you're not talking about them.
There are more allergies, but you are right, there are more parents who claim allergies where there is none. I don't know why.
I also don't know why there's more - could it be anything to do with all the chemicals used in foods nowadays?

[zoemaguire]

Don't combine antibiotics in newborn period with top up formula followed by exclusive breastfeeding! There are various studies showing that that increases risk of dairy allergy. Not much choice on the antibiotics front, but i am certainly cross with midwife who gave dd top up formula for no good reason.

Not much you can do about atopy in family though,,which also ups risk. We didn't have allergic dcs for the fun of it you know or because we neglectfully fed our babies coke and fruit shoots. these things just happen sometimes.

[Sevensev]

I have read a couple of times from reports that caesarians may be a problem in this regard.
That babies gain something to help with allergies by being born naturally through the birth canal [or whatever it is called!]

I used to wonder whether cs's being "unnatural" would have effects.
I used to think cs's were great. And of course they are if necessary, but I do suspect they have some drawbacks.

[DrDre]

I agree to a point, however:

• with something like this where it could be due to many different things it is very difficult to compare experiences accurately.
  
• correlation does not automatically mean causation.
  

My son has got several allergies, I am firmly of the opinion that science is the way to go in getting to the bottom of this.

[CinnabarRed]

I suspect that in part you're conflating allergies and intolerances, which are different.

You will also, of course, never meet the "missing" adults who died years ago from poorly understood and managed allergies.

You will also likely find, should you do a poll, that some of the adults you work with do have allergies of which you are unaware. My MIL, for example, is allergic to celery - but it isn't something likely to come up in a normal work context. I am responsible for residential learning courses for over 3,000 employees in my workplace, and I would guesstimate that at least 10% of my attendees disclose allergies or intolerances on their booking forms.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

My husband works in an office of 5 people.

He has fish and seafood allergy.

2 others have definite allergies.

[fascicle]

This is a genuine question, I'm about to have a DC and am keen to try to avoid these problems if possible and am keen to hear people's theories on why it may happen........

You'd best screen your partner to ensure no history of allergies.

[mrsjay]

I read somewhere that we are too clean these days we bleach and spray everywhere children are not allowed to get dirty so the body fights against something IYSWIM, not sure if that is true or not as i have a latex allergy and was rolling about making mud pies as a kid