5 ms·

Allergies are weird and our understanding of them is very incomplete. My son has/had a peanut allergy (very successful oral immunotherapy, knock on wood) and I

Allergies are weird and our understanding of them is very incomplete. My son has/had a peanut allergy (very successful oral immunotherapy, knock on wood) and I ended up doing a lot of research. One study that is particular interesting is this one: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26728850/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26728850/ It shows that east asian children, who very rarely have nut allergies in their home countries, develop nut allergies at a higher rate than non-asian children when born in Australia while east asian children who immigrate to Australia after their early infancy continue to maintain very low rates of nut allergies.

goldieboi 2y ago
This is what our allergist said. Living in Australia wife and I are both asian both eat peanuts. No peanut allergies in either families. Wife ate peanuts while pregnant but son has peanut allergy.
- rconti 2y ago
  What's the implication here? That exposure to peanuts in utero might not help avoid peanut allergies after birth? (I'm not sure what the literature on that says) Or that there's something unusual about simply being in Australia as an infant that causes peanut sensitivity? Or that infants in Australia have less exposure to nuts?
  - jimcsharp 2y ago
    I read at one point that my oral allergy syndrome, my mild reaction to apples and other fruits, tends to be correlated with hay fever. It doesn't seem unreasonable for something similar to be afoot with peanuts.
  - jes5199 2y ago
    it could be some other environmental trigger. for example, there was a study a few years back that suggested that some kinds of baby wipes could make it more likely that the child develops a food allergy: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/wellness/a19719094/baby-wipes-child-food-allergies-study/ https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/wellness/a19719094/b...
  - Perenti 2y ago
    There are a lot of hayfever allergens in Australia. I have to wonder if that has something to do with it, or whether it's got something to do with how kids today don't seem to get covered in dirt.
    - hilbert42 2y ago
      Perhaps there's something to that. As kids we were dirty little buggers much to mother's chagrin. In the backyard throwing mud pies at each other was a commonplace activity. And I've no known allergies.
  - hilbert42 2y ago
    "Or that there's something unusual about simply being in Australia as an infant that causes peanut sensitivity" OK, but why now and not when I was a kid growing up in Australia? We have to get to the root cause of this new problem. (Read my other posts here.)

goldieboi 2y ago

This is what our allergist said. Living in Australia wife and I are both asian both eat peanuts. No peanut allergies in either families. Wife ate peanuts while pregnant but son has peanut allergy.

rconti 2y ago
What's the implication here? That exposure to peanuts in utero might not help avoid peanut allergies after birth? (I'm not sure what the literature on that says) Or that there's something unusual about simply being in Australia as an infant that causes peanut sensitivity? Or that infants in Australia have less exposure to nuts?
- jimcsharp 2y ago
  I read at one point that my oral allergy syndrome, my mild reaction to apples and other fruits, tends to be correlated with hay fever. It doesn't seem unreasonable for something similar to be afoot with peanuts.
- jes5199 2y ago
  it could be some other environmental trigger. for example, there was a study a few years back that suggested that some kinds of baby wipes could make it more likely that the child develops a food allergy: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/wellness/a19719094/baby-wipes-child-food-allergies-study/ https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/wellness/a19719094/b...
- Perenti 2y ago
  There are a lot of hayfever allergens in Australia. I have to wonder if that has something to do with it, or whether it's got something to do with how kids today don't seem to get covered in dirt.
  - hilbert42 2y ago
    Perhaps there's something to that. As kids we were dirty little buggers much to mother's chagrin. In the backyard throwing mud pies at each other was a commonplace activity. And I've no known allergies.
- hilbert42 2y ago
  "Or that there's something unusual about simply being in Australia as an infant that causes peanut sensitivity" OK, but why now and not when I was a kid growing up in Australia? We have to get to the root cause of this new problem. (Read my other posts here.)