I recall as a child going for skin prick allergy testing. I remember having lots of little dots measured on my arm to see what I reacted to the most. As an asthmatic and someone who suffered from hay fever my mum wanted to see what she could do to help. I didn’t seem to have any food allergies. But they found that dust, pollen, and pet dander were my triggers. The skin prick allergy testing was relatively painless, perhaps just a little uncomfortable. But I think I would still prefer to have a simple allergy blood test which can be more accurate. It has been said that allergies are on the rise in the UK. Given my experience of allergy testing I decided to find out why.

Why Is It Happening?

One possibility is that we are diagnosing more people. It’s easier to get home allergy tests now and diagnose yourself and your family without having to wait for an appointment with a specialist allergy clinic.  But I still don’t think that would explain the sheer number of people dealing with allergies now.

More Allergic To Dust

Apparently, we are now too clean, so we are making more allergies. So, if you wanted a break from the housework that might give you a valid excuse! Dr. Leigh Vinocur of the American College of Emergency Physicians said, “We’ve gotten rid of so many basic microbes that we are exposed to, that our immune systems are sitting idle, waiting to rev up for an attack”. It would make sense if your body isn’t gradually introduced to microbes our immune system might overreact when exposed to them.

Epidemiologist Dr Strachan devised the ‘hygiene hypothesis’ in 1989 he believed that reduced contact to dirt could led to an increased chance of developing allergies. In childhood we need to have contact with microbes to build up our immune system. But if we are very hygienic and clean in our homes then our children don’t develop the correct responses to microbes.

The first child is most likely to have allergies and asthma, but there wasn’t a huge difference in the results.  The slight increase is down to the fact future children will have been exposed to more microbes from their siblings. First parents tend to go overboard sterilising their home, by the third child they are much more relaxed. There is a funny saying:

“First child eats dirt parent calls doctor. Second child eats dirt parent washes out their mouth. Third child eats dirt the parent wonders whether they need lunch!”.

You get the idea basically parents relax their standards of hygiene as more children follow. Not in all cases but I am sure there is a degree of truth in this.

More Allergic To Food

Apparently, we are also becoming more allergic to food in the West. 7% of children in the UK have food allergies, that is a lot of anxiety for a considerable number of parents and children. Milk, Eggs, Nuts and Fish are the common foods that trigger allergies. So, children need to follow quite restrictive diets to stay safe. An allergic reaction can range from quite mild (itchy eyes and wheezing) through to swelling of the throat and difficulty breathing, if they go into anaphylaxis shock it can be life threatening. It’s good to be aware of the signs and a reaction can happen very quickly. There are also uncommon food allergies so don’t just think its always nuts and eggs to blame, others have reactions to gelatin, corn and even avocados.

My boys’ old primary school had added a no nut policy to try and protect those pupils with allergies at the school. It must be very difficult for parents as they can control everything at home. But it’s harder when your children are off out in the wide world. There has been a link to food allergy and children born by caesarean. It is thought they miss out on ingesting useful bacteria from the birth canal. Sounds gross that you need some of that bacteria personally but whatever works! More than half of births in some countries are by caesarean section so it comes as no surprise that food allergies are raising so drastically when caesarean sections are growing at an “alarming rate”. I think it makes sense there is a correlation between those two figures.

How food is processed plays a part too. Convenience food with cheaper processing methods might increase the allergenicity of food protein.

More Allergic To Pollen

Also, there is more pollen because of the warmer temperature associated with climate change. This means plants are growing briskly and shedding even more pollen than usual. Not only does weather play a part but human interference. Urban landscapers prefer male trees, but these shed much more pollen. Yes, us humans seem to play a big part in the rise of allergies in the UK.

It is quite clear allergies are on the rise and mainly due to our lifestyle. Whether its because we like to keep our homes so clean and tidy (just look at the popularity of Mrs Hinch), climate change or the rise of smaller families. Each of those factors will be playing a part.

Allergies Treatment

Certain things are meant to help, having more children so they are exposed to more microbes would be something Dr Strachan would suggest. You could get a pet cat or dog which helps with the gradual exposure to microbes. But might not work so well if you end up allergic to pet dander like I did! Also stock up on the best antihistamine for food allergies. Just remember not all antihistamines are suitable for young children. In terms of hay fever some people now take bee pollen supplements which is meant to reduce the need for antihistamines. Others say it depends on where the bee pollen is from, as you need local bees to feel better!

Amish children had less allergies and asthma because they have the farm around them, they don’t use chemicals or pasteurise their milk. Children build up immunity naturally.

So remember a little dirt might not be anything to worry about!