Why are so many children allergic to everything now days?

[Mummysharkdoodoodoo]

Watching grand designs and the couple have two children who are allergic to most things. Even the doctor was surprised that they were so ill on such high tablets.

Why are children allergic to more and more things now days?

What causes it?

Just because...

Does anyone know if there are any studies to show the different rate of allergies for different countries?

From what I see around me allergies are much less common in France than in the UK. I would be interested to know if it is true.

And just become people don’t remember someone having allergies , doesn’t mean they didn’t have them.

BIL didn't remember his CMPA because he grew out of it by 5, it was only MIL who remembered it. DS grew out of his food allergies at 4, I don't know if he'll remember them or not, he still doesn't like cheese and he has asthma and eczema so we do talk about his old allergies (he has environmental ones now).

And just become people don’t remember someone having allergies , doesn’t mean they didn’t have them. You can remember what ever child in your class had for lunch every day? We aren’t just talking about anaphylaxis. Why would anyone have told you and you remembered. This. Exactly.

Now I only wish I had written it with fewer spelling and grammar mistakes! It’s hard with a child asleep on one arm!

In my family, there were more allergies in my parents' generation (asthma, hay fever, pet hair allergy) than in my kids' generation.

The recent rise in allergies is a real thing - it wasn't misdiagnosed or missed in the past. [hmmm] Anaphylaxis can't be confused with choking! wtf!

I'm lucky enough never to have witnessed an anaphylaxis reaction. Could you please explain why it couldn't be confused with choking?

Well I have had the misfortune to witness an anaphylactic reaction (my son's). His face swelled up massively (he couldn't open his eyes and his ears started weeping). He screamed a lot then went really drowsy. He pointed to his mouth a lot to indicate pain (it was before he could talk). He vomited. I just can't see, personally, how it can be confused with choking. In an anaphylactic reaction breathing may become wheezy / difficult - wheeziness is different to choking imo. There are also other symptoms.

My mum grew up during WW2. Didnt realise she was allergic to quite a few things until they came back into supply. They knew about carbolic soap as it turned her skin red.
She also had asthma and was "sensitive" in that she'd come out in rashes and hives , there was no testing offered, no medication.
There would be kids who failed to thrive probably due to allergies in many cases ,and in the days before immunisation / antibiotics be carried off by scarlet fever, measles etc

Peanut allergy would have been hard to find when my parents were young. Pretty sure nobody ever had one. I'd say the number at people with allergies was similar except exposure to things was more limited and investigations less thorough.

This is purely an anecdote but I taught a young man about 17 years ago who was diagnosed at the age of about 14 with anaphylactic allergy to peanuts. The diagnosis came within weeks of us going to Mexico for a month on an expedition. We had cards made up in Spanish which explained the situation for when we were eating out. All was fine until the last night when we went to a slightly fancy place to eat. The card was handed over and the waitress took it away to show the chefs who all nodded and we forgot all about it. The lad only had the chicken in his mouth for seconds before he started to react - he didn’t even chew. Our naivety and lack of understanding of anaphylaxis was staggering and terrifying. Eventually he came out with a slightly swollen tongue. The chefs had not understood that it didn’t need to be actual whole peanuts who the chicken was cooked in peanut oil. The organisation we went with pondered later whether the term allergy was even understood in some of the places we were going to. I have no idea about the veracity of that but it wa sevftainky a new situation to us then. Now, checking for allergies is part and parcel of what we do

I read they've increased rapidly since advice to give solids later was introduced.

Was literally talking to a friend about this earlier. I thought later weaning was intended to reduce allergies etc, but they appear to be on the rise. DS is only 23 but I remember smooth peanut butter was a weaning food then...

It must be so scary for anyone affected.

Thanks DrDre. I hope your son came through it ok?

Pebblespony Peanut oil used to be added to lots of things until peanut allergies became more common. Also monkey nuts used to be commonly eaten by kids as they were a cheap treat.

When I was young (9ish) I was allergic to almost everything pet fur , grass, dust,plants, pollen etc.. I had allergy tests at the time as I had asthma ,rashes, nausea etc. My treatment was allergen exposure ( I am not sure if it works on food - believe it was tested for nuts). I had a weekly injection at my Dr's surgery for over a year( with microscopic allergens in it) and guess what now I have no allergies (except to bananas),

I am not sure if they still do this but I remember the Dr telling my Mother that being too clean is not good for children (my Mum is a bit OCD re dirt and germs) that children need to get dirty and eat mud, get exposure to things to build a good immune system. I believe that the general cleanliness and decrease in playing outside could be one reason for the increase.

It might be a coincidence but the 2 children in our family with allergies were both born by cesarean.

It could just be coincidence but my 2 children born by c-section don’t have any allergies.

DDad- Eczema, asthma
DM- wasp and bee allergies (anaphylaxis to both), asthma
My FIL -Hayfever, bad enough to required steroid injections

My siblings and I - 2 (of 4) of us react to one plant (Himalayan balsam). I developed a dairy intolerance in my 30s, which dissappared after pregnancy. I had moderately bad psoriasis as a child, which I grew out of in my 20s.
DH - hayfever, pretty debilitating, May to July.

My DC - nothing has shown up yet. Eldest is 10.

As s family, we seemed to be becoming less allergic.

How far back are you talking? Now a days include the 90s? Only asking as I don’t recall anyone in primary school (80s) being allergic to things, though I also cannot recall lots of children and babies dying from mysterious reasons. So not too sure that’s the explanation.

I think there’s more variety of food eaten now. Also there’s more food outlets (don’t recall chain sandwiches shops with prepared sandwiches being common, only that they started springing up in the 90s). So less control over what is in food.

Plus the existence of allergies has more awareness, so maybe people just avoid food that made them ill but weren’t allergic (even though they actually were). Milk used to make me vomit as a baby and toddler, so I wasn’t given it. Had to drink it in school though

Mind you I think eczema and hay fever have always been about the same level now as then.

@Mycstiskillingme I played outside lots as a child (with my siblings) and I was the only one to develop allergies. Sometimes it’s just bad luck.

Oops that should read cat!

There were definitely cases of misdiagnosis though: dh can't have been the only youngster whose asthma was diagnosed as bronchitis, and I know several people who had "chronic bowel problems" that disappeared when they stopped drinking milk. When I was a child it was pretty well an article of faith that milk was good for everyone.

Just read this interesting study which says that as peanut butter and dry roasting of peanuts is introduced to countries, peanut allergy increases. It says boiling and frying peanuts as is common in China, leads of fewer allergic reactions. When I was young I knew no one with a peanut allergy. But peanut butter was a product I only saw on American TV shows, you couldn't buy it in our local shops. But kids did eat peanuts by eating monkey nuts. They were popular, but according to this study, would be far less likely to cause allergic reactions.

embor.embopress.org/content/7/11/1080

People can become allergic to anything at any point in time.
A friend became anaphylactic to wheat in his 30's, no prior warning it just happened.

I did read that with intense farming and selective production the wheat that is produced now is has much more gluten in it than 100 years ago.

I too wonder if people died due to anaphylaxis and it was put down as something else or just not spoken about.
I can buy the theory they thought kids had choked. Few would have seen somebody choke to death likewise few would have seen an anaphylactic reaction.

Two of my three kids have/had milk allergies. I wondered the same thing, and then my mum mentioned one day how she didn't tolerate the usual formula and was hospitalised as a toddler on more than one occasion with what she can only remember as tummy issues. I think it's greater awareness.