Increase in peanut allergies??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that trying to blame the parents is hurtful and misguided.

THIS

I'm so sick of the blame game going on in some of these threads (that one in General Parenting had some particularly egregious and utterly misinformed comments). You want to talk research, fine. But the blaming is obnoxious and hurtful.

OP here. I'm asking about the research and what parents who are impacted think about the research. I did look up research but it's not like I did a deep dive. A cursory look at research indicates exposure and Vitamin D. From parents' stories on this thread, exposure doesn't seem to be the issue at all. Which is interesting to learn. Meaning - not the parents.

[Anonymous]

It's interesting, I know one who started with a peanut allergy so everyone was very careful about finding alternatives and they did well for a few years. Now though, that child is allergic to all the other nuts they could once have and peanut is one of the weakest allergies this child has. They still need an epi pen for it though. No rhyme or reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Around the time DD was born, there was a study out about peanut allergies in different countries, and one of the takeaways from it was that peanut allergies are very, very rare in Israel and they think it might have to do with the extreme popularity of bombas, a puffed snack covered in peanut powder. This was part of what drove the theory that peanut allergies were increasing because people were avoiding exposing their kids to peanuts, preventing them from developing healthy immune response to the allergen.

Now you are encouraged to expose your kid to small amounts of peanuts early (around the time solids are introduced) and kids who are found to have a peanut allergy are generally treated through progressive exposure. It doesn't always get rid of the allergy but it can reduce it's severity a lot, which is a big deal because, as you will learn in the other thread, having a kid who has a severe food allergy to any common food is incredibly stressful and limiting. Even if your kid never loses their peanut allergy, you could get to the point where exposure to small amounts, especially on your hands or just traces in food, would cause a mild reaction, not a deadly one requiring an epi pen.

In any case, we were nervous about introducing our baby to peanuts because we'd heard all these horror stories about allergies. Our pediatrician suggested bombas, which they now sell at Trader Joe's under their house brand, and now it's a favorite snack in our family.

But Americans eat so much peanut butter though. Babies get exposed to it from the mother in Utero and while breastfeeding. That should count no? We don't eat peanuts that much in Europe, at least not daily.
On another note, there was a study linking using frequent use of moisturizer on babies to food allergies. They used to say it's important to moisturize to create a barrier from allergen on the skin (which can cause allergies if the allergen is not already in the diet). But now some are saying that moisturizer a lot breaks down the natural skin barrier and introduces allergens from the parents hands... Confusing

DP and no, it doesn’t count. I ate a ton of PB while pregnant and breastfeeding all three kids; one of them still has PN allergies.

This study came out shortly after that kid was diagnosed and his allergist full-on admitted that docs had been giving the wrong advice (to avoid peanut early in life). Interestingly, one of the leading theories is that if peanut is introduced via the skin before orally, the body learns to treat it as dangerous, i.e., peanut allergy. DS had horrible eczema when he was a baby, and it’s almost certain some small amount got in through his skin. I’d guess that those parents using a lot of moisturizer on their infants are doing so because they have eczema, as we did.

That was my immediate reaction too but the study was carried out on 2 cohort, one with eczema and one without and the results were the same.
Wouldn't breast feeding count as oral exposure though? I breastfed my kids but one of them was already clearly allergic to stuff I was eating. That right after she was borne. So I didn't have a chance to give her any food yet. In that case oral introduction preceded skin contact.

There is one theory that the western diet has led to increases gut permeability, meaning the intact proteins from our food pass into our bloodstream and therefore our breastmilk. So, kids are getting large exposures to various proteins via breastmilk that they didn’t get in previous generations. Their body is not ready to handle these exposures yet. It can cause GI issues, colic, or in some cases, this leads to immune overreaction and you get a full blown allergy when the kid tries the solid food later.

I'm actually convinced about that (leaky gut - allergies connection). I just find it hard to explain by diet alone. Lots of families with allergic kids eat a good diet with few processed foods. In that case you would think the economically disadvantaged families would have a much higher proportion of allergies but it's not the case. Or maybe it's the combination of what you said and breastfeeding? That could explain the prevalence of allergies in wealthier families (who are more likely to breastfeed).

I also can't imagine that if formula fed babies developed food allergies as a significantly lower rate, that wouldn't have been discovered by now.

I also think that if processed food were a simple mechanism causing this, that we'd see a pattern where lower income families in the same country, or at least in the US, would have higher rates, not lower rates.

Formula feeding also directly introduces a foreign protein - cow milk protein - early in the gut development so it does not avoid the issue entirely. Plenty of babies fed formula develop milk allergy.

I think it’s a combination of causes but I do believe this is one.

[Anonymous]

A generation of babies (i.e., Boomers) were formula fed. They did not have the allergy rates we see today. Not the culprit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Kid #1: ate a lot of nuts, peanuts and tahini during pregnancy and breastfeeding (until 15 months) and kid developped allergies to nut, peanuts and sesame.
Kid#2: did not eat nuts, peanuts and sesame during pregnancy and breastfeeding (9 months) and kid developped allergies to nuts, peanuts, sesame and a host of other things I was consuming (egg, soy, dairy, seafood, seeds etc.).
I am SO tired of the blame on parents. We've heard everything and it’s opposite. Instead of focusing on what the moms are or are not doing or eating why don't they study the effects of pharmaceuticals and pollutants on allergies? Because that's where the problem lies, not on what mom is eating and whether larlo got peanuts at 5 months vs. 1 year.

Are you saying YOU ate nuts in pregnancy or your kid ate nuts before one year old?
If the first, you are crazy.

Why would someone eating or eating nuts during pregnancy mean they are crazy?

Right! You're supposed to eat peanuts during pregnancy. You also can just touch babies with peanut powder hands and that's enough of an exposure. The goal is early and often. Peanuts should be a baby's first food.

Actually, initial exposure through skin may trigger allergies.

Yes, be careful with this approach. You absolutely do not want food protein entering bloodstream through skin, it is way different from food exposure!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Kid #1: ate a lot of nuts, peanuts and tahini during pregnancy and breastfeeding (until 15 months) and kid developped allergies to nut, peanuts and sesame.
Kid#2: did not eat nuts, peanuts and sesame during pregnancy and breastfeeding (9 months) and kid developped allergies to nuts, peanuts, sesame and a host of other things I was consuming (egg, soy, dairy, seafood, seeds etc.).
I am SO tired of the blame on parents. We've heard everything and it’s opposite. Instead of focusing on what the moms are or are not doing or eating why don't they study the effects of pharmaceuticals and pollutants on allergies? Because that's where the problem lies, not on what mom is eating and whether larlo got peanuts at 5 months vs. 1 year.

Are you saying YOU ate nuts in pregnancy or your kid ate nuts before one year old?
If the first, you are crazy.

I did. How does it make me crazy?

Bcs you are connecting two things that are not the same. Crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Infant mortality used to be much, much higher.

thank goodness we are better informed about things like celiac disease, insulin for type 1 diabetes, and epi-pens for food allergies. these things have saved lives.

if your kids don't have peanut allergies thank your lucky stars and don't go looking for problems.

Years ago, I read somewhere that there seemed to be a correlation between higher birth weights and the prevalence of peanut allergies. It sounds strange, but I remember finding the specifics of it (which I can't remember now, nor do I remember where I read it) convincing at the time. I have never heard anyone blame the moms. That's ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Infant mortality used to be much, much higher.

thank goodness we are better informed about things like celiac disease, insulin for type 1 diabetes, and epi-pens for food allergies. these things have saved lives.

if your kids don't have peanut allergies thank your lucky stars and don't go looking for problems.

Years ago, I read somewhere that there seemed to be a correlation between higher birth weights and the prevalence of peanut allergies. It sounds strange, but I remember finding the specifics of it (which I can't remember now, nor do I remember where I read it) convincing at the time. I have never heard anyone blame the moms. That's ridiculous.

Go take a look at the other thread...although I believe the worst of it may have been deleted. It got really bad at one point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A generation of babies (i.e., Boomers) were formula fed. They did not have the allergy rates we see today. Not the culprit.

Good point. Boomers weren’t even given formula. They were fed evaporated cows milk mixed with corn syrup and water

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Kid #1: ate a lot of nuts, peanuts and tahini during pregnancy and breastfeeding (until 15 months) and kid developped allergies to nut, peanuts and sesame.
Kid#2: did not eat nuts, peanuts and sesame during pregnancy and breastfeeding (9 months) and kid developped allergies to nuts, peanuts, sesame and a host of other things I was consuming (egg, soy, dairy, seafood, seeds etc.).
I am SO tired of the blame on parents. We've heard everything and it’s opposite. Instead of focusing on what the moms are or are not doing or eating why don't they study the effects of pharmaceuticals and pollutants on allergies? Because that's where the problem lies, not on what mom is eating and whether larlo got peanuts at 5 months vs. 1 year.

Are you saying YOU ate nuts in pregnancy or your kid ate nuts before one year old?
If the first, you are crazy.

I did. How does it make me crazy?

Bcs you are connecting two things that are not the same. Crazy.

It's not. You don't know what you are talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Kid #1: ate a lot of nuts, peanuts and tahini during pregnancy and breastfeeding (until 15 months) and kid developped allergies to nut, peanuts and sesame.
Kid#2: did not eat nuts, peanuts and sesame during pregnancy and breastfeeding (9 months) and kid developped allergies to nuts, peanuts, sesame and a host of other things I was consuming (egg, soy, dairy, seafood, seeds etc.).
I am SO tired of the blame on parents. We've heard everything and it’s opposite. Instead of focusing on what the moms are or are not doing or eating why don't they study the effects of pharmaceuticals and pollutants on allergies? Because that's where the problem lies, not on what mom is eating and whether larlo got peanuts at 5 months vs. 1 year.

Are you saying YOU ate nuts in pregnancy or your kid ate nuts before one year old?
If the first, you are crazy.

I did. How does it make me crazy?

Bcs you are connecting two things that are not the same. Crazy.

It's not. You don't know what you are talking about.

Lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My take:

too 'clean'
formula feeding and plastics from the bottles and nipples.

My two were both exclusively breastfed, and are both allergic to tree nuts; one is also allergic to peanuts. And yes they were exposed and even both ate nuts for YEARS before the allergies developed. As in one day hazelnut spread was fine, and literally the next day, big reaction.

[Anonymous]

This weekend I made homemade pesto for the first time - I have no idea why it took me so long but it was fantastic I’ll never buy it store bought again.

My cousin tried some and she loved it and she was excited to have her husband and daughter try it - then she remembered it has walnuts in it so nope. And I took a moment then as I try to do often to be grateful for my lack of food allergies and in particular nut allergies. I’m crazy for nuts especially peanuts, which have been a favorite food my entire life - PB&J were fed to me from as soon as I was eating solids I’m sure.

I grew up in a meticulously clean home, but I also played in the dirt a lot and with pets of all kinds. But that was in the 70s so a very different time. I have always been curious about the rise in food allergies and also horrified - I truly feel sad for kids who never get to eat nuts, but mostly that any person has to live in fear of anaphylaxis from things that are so ubiquitous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My take:

too 'clean'
formula feeding and plastics from the bottles and nipples.

My two were both exclusively breastfed, and are both allergic to tree nuts; one is also allergic to peanuts. And yes they were exposed and even both ate nuts for YEARS before the allergies developed. As in one day hazelnut spread was fine, and literally the next day, big reaction.

Thank you for the N of 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A generation of babies (i.e., Boomers) were formula fed. They did not have the allergy rates we see today. Not the culprit.

Good point. Boomers weren’t even given formula. They were fed evaporated cows milk mixed with corn syrup and water

Yes! This. I have wondered if this had any impact on diabetes rates. Evaporated milk and corn syrup is not the same as our current formulas.