What is the reason for the increasing number of peanut allergies? Back when I was in school (in the 60's) the was no one that had a peanut allergy. I' don't discount the possibility that those kids didn't live long enough to go to school, but somehow I don't think that's the answer.
This is a great question (and one that will likely be a topic of a future post). Long story short, over 20 years ago it was recommended that children avoid exposure to peanuts until age 3. But a randomized trial published in 2015 found that it was actually beneficial to expose children under 1 year to peanuts to help them avoid development of peanut allergy. The hypothesis is that early and regular exposure to allergens discourages the immune system from developing allergic responses. This trial lead to a change in guidelines that now recommend that parents purposefully expose children early (my kids' pediatrician made sure we incorporated peanut products into their diet early on). Many believe that the initial recommendation to delay peanut exposure, which was not based on high-quality evidence, led to a rise in peanut allergies, but there may also be other factors at play.
So would this be a feather in the cap of the Hygiene Hypothesis? Should we stop worrying so much about the "germs" and dirt that our babies are getting into? I know the Hygiene Hypothesis has been around for quite some time, and over the years it has fallen in and out of favor. What's the current feeling on it?
What is the reason for the increasing number of peanut allergies? Back when I was in school (in the 60's) the was no one that had a peanut allergy. I' don't discount the possibility that those kids didn't live long enough to go to school, but somehow I don't think that's the answer.
This is a great question (and one that will likely be a topic of a future post). Long story short, over 20 years ago it was recommended that children avoid exposure to peanuts until age 3. But a randomized trial published in 2015 found that it was actually beneficial to expose children under 1 year to peanuts to help them avoid development of peanut allergy. The hypothesis is that early and regular exposure to allergens discourages the immune system from developing allergic responses. This trial lead to a change in guidelines that now recommend that parents purposefully expose children early (my kids' pediatrician made sure we incorporated peanut products into their diet early on). Many believe that the initial recommendation to delay peanut exposure, which was not based on high-quality evidence, led to a rise in peanut allergies, but there may also be other factors at play.
So would this be a feather in the cap of the Hygiene Hypothesis? Should we stop worrying so much about the "germs" and dirt that our babies are getting into? I know the Hygiene Hypothesis has been around for quite some time, and over the years it has fallen in and out of favor. What's the current feeling on it?
That’s certainly the impression I have gotten--at least when it comes to food allergies, early and regular exposure seems to be beneficial