In the latest issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, researchers report on the prevalence of allergies among Americans. Their study estimates that over half of Americans have an allergic reaction to one of the 10 allergens that were tested during the ongoing National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey (referred to as NHANES) conducted by the National Institutes of Health.
The study is disturbing for several reasons. The first is that it wasn’t reported in the mainstream media. The second is that the prevalence of allergies doubled over the 12-year period covered by the study. The third disturbing thing is that the researchers fail to discuss what seems to me a painfully obvious question: what has made us more sensitive?
The kind of allergies we’re talking about are to things like cats, dogs, grass, ragweed, and peanuts. These so-called Type 1 Hypersensitivities are your immune system trying to get rid of something it doesn’t like. The principle agent for all this is the mast cell, a kind of white blood cell. Mast cells attack allergens, launch an inflammatory response, neutralize the allergen, and release two chemicals that help flush the stuff out of your system: the neurotransmitter histamine and heparin, an anticoagulant.
This is your immune system not working right, sent on a crusade it could easily avoid. Cat dander is not life threatening. Unless you’re severely allergic to it.
I won’t speculate on why the mainstream media failed to report this research, even though it lends itself to a gee-whiz kind of headline like 50% of Americans Allergic. Of course, to those who suffer, that’s not news. Kind of like Half Of Americans Are Male.
The researchers compared allergic reaction tests from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s. For each allergen, more people reacted in the mid-1990s tests than in the earlier tests. In some cases, up to 5 times more. That’s a dramatic increase.
What the researchers discuss is the various exposures that can trigger an allergic response. But there’s no reason to believe that our exposure to cat dander, ragweed, and all the rest have doubled.
What I see in this study is that the volume on our immune system has been turned up. Some think that increased volume is from more exposures to chemical agents, through air and water, that disrupt our metabolism. For example, European researchers found that children had more allergies when they had greater exposure to phthalates, which are used to soften plastic and are in products like perfume, nail polish, toys, bottles, and food containers.
So avoiding allergy attacks is more than not mowing the lawn. It means avoiding both allergens and chemicals that challenge your immune system. Air, water, skin.
