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WHO GETS ALLERGIES – AND WHY
If neither of your parents have allergies, you have only one chance in ten of being allergic yourself. If one of your parents is allergic, your chances are fifty-fifty. If both your parents are allergic, your chances of being allergic rise to 75 per cent.
That’s not because we inherit allergies. We do, however, inherit genes that make us more likely to be allergic. Scientists call this ‘genetic predisposition’, and what it means is that heredity sets the stage, but nothing happens unless you encounter an allergen (or several). Then – bingo! -you’ve got a reaction.
Beyond that, doctors and medical researchers know little about why some people and their families develop allergies and others get off scot-free. What they do know is that delaying our initial encounters with common food allergens such as milk, wheat, eggs, corn and food additives in infancy seems to go a long way towards preventing food allergies from taking hold. Chalk up another one for breastfeeding. And when foods are eventually introduced, doctors say the best game plan is to introduce them singly and even then for only a few days at a time. That enables parents to recognize a food allergy right from the start, before the connection between allergen and allergy is muddled by exposure to a whole gamut of foods. Food additives, of course, can be withheld indefinitely with no nutritional loss.
Children are also far less likely to develop allergies of any kind if the people around them – especially parents – don’t smoke. Following this principle of ‘early avoidance’ with all highly allergenic materials – such as dust, pollen, pets, moulds and toxic chemicals – may prevent allergies even in highly allergy-prone families.
Scientific research bears that statement out. In one experiment, for instance, doctors focused on the health of fifty newborns who, based on family history and blood levels of IgE, were bound to become allergic. A few simple preventive steps were taken with twenty-five of these children: they were breastfed for at least six months and ate no other food except hypoallergenic milk substitutes; their bedrooms were kept as free as possible of dust and moulds; and no pets were allowed in their homes. By the time the toddlers were two years old, only six had any sign of allergy, even though all twenty-five were allergy prone. In contrast, no preventive steps were taken to safeguard the other twenty-five infants. Consequently, sixteen of the unprotected children – nearly three times as many as the protected group – developed allergy within the first two years (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology).
That doesn’t, however, imply that opportunities for allergy control cease at age two. Many allergies don’t show up until early school age – or even adulthood. If anything, the need for avoidance tactics increases throughout life. Infections, exposure to industrial pollution, degenerative diseases (such as diabetes and atherosclerosis) and the ageing process all play a role in heightening an inherited tendency towards allergy.
Above all, though, exposure stokes the fires. Fortunately, there are hundreds of avoidance tactics, major and minor, at your disposal. You may need to make just a few simple changes in your routine to get your allergies under control. Highly sensitive people may need to make more or bigger adjustments. Regardless of your degree of sensitivity, though, the sooner you begin your natural allergy relief programme, the better.
*10/65/5*
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