What is the root cause of all of these allergies that we never had before?

Answer 1

Allergies are not at all caused by a sterile environment, a week immune system is. An allergic reaction is the opposite, it's a hyperactive immune system, not a week one. An allergy is the body's way of fighting something that has "attacked" it by releasing histamines. Usually it is by overexposure or double exposure ( being exposed, and then re-exposed).

Allergies are cause by three things.

The first being genetics. If two people get together and one has allergies or asthma in there genes, they pass that on to their child, almost doubling the children with allergies and asthma every generation.

The second being environment. Babies and kids that are exposed to harsh chemicals can develop allergies to them and asthma. For example, parents that smoke in front of their kids increase the risks of asthma in those kids.

The third is medical science. Crazy as it is, some medicines definitely cause allergies. For example, a newborn that is given high doses of antibiotics will become hypersensitive to the next thing presented to them. Give a 4 month old a high dose of antibiotic for 2 weeks and teething biscuits so gnaw at, and they could develop an allergy to wheat (or whatever is in the biscuit) or an allergy to milk if they are on formula.
Another example is immunizations. Some babies and kids have a harsh reaction to their immunizations and the body's way of coping with it is creating a defense system against it; an allergy. Most egg allergies come from a bad reaction to immunizations.
The reason that these drugs affect babies now and not 20 years ago is because the formulas have changed and there are more chemicals added now than there was 20 years ago to give them a longer shelf life. We can thank the FDA for that.

Answer 2

I think it's parent being to over protective of there kids. Like not letting them eat a sweet when it's been dropped., or nor allowed to play in the mud. It all boosts the immune system and wont do any real harm.

Also my friend says it's central heating that does it. The house is now a warm cosy place, great for infection and germs to breed. Not like older houses that have a big breeze, and constant fresh air.

Answer 3

I don't believe that it is necessarily caused by any one single factor but more likely a range of different things.

These include additives & preservatives in food , environmental products ( detergents , sprays , herbicides etc ) , standards of hygiene & overuse of antibiotics just to name a few .

The other thing that disturbs me is the use of chemical additives in our food chain eg the producers of our meat products. My understanding is that a lot of these things are cumulative ...can't be good for our long term health or for our natural resistance to allergies etc .

In the home , the use of formaldahyde in building products is a worry....it emits a vapour for years ! How can that be good for us ?


Now I'm depressing myself !

Answer 4

I think it's because we've become too clean. The amount of anti-bacterial products available have made us less dependant on our immune systems, so allergies have increased.

There's nothing wrong with being clean of course, but if you aren't often exposed to bacteria, especially as a young child, it appears to have a negative impact later on.

Answer 5

Everything is too clean!

The UK Food Hygeine qualification, which all cooks and chefs must have, renders it almost impossible to cook anything!

If nobody takes in a germ, then the body cannot develop antibodies to the germ. It is as simple as that.

Answer 6

they're messing with our food, our water, our air. you name it, they've added it and you can guarantee our immune systems do NOT like it.
and we've become overly sterile.