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The rise of childhood allergies since 1991
Filed under: Health & Safety: Babies, Nutrition: Health, Development/Milestones: Babies
Aw-Choo! The current issue of Lancet (www.thelancet.com) has a series of article on allergies. In one article, it was reported that childhood allergies have become more widespread around the globe since 1991. The most common allergies are hay fever, asthma, and eczema. A study in the U.K. of 1,700 children found asthma prevalence went up from 18.4% in 1991 to 20.9% in 2003 - for the same period hay fever prevalence went up from 9.8% to 10.1% and eczema rose from 13% to 16%.Professor Innes Asher and his colleagues repeated a 1991 study called The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) to asses global prevalence of asthma, hay fever and eczema. In the investigation, 193,400 children, aged 6-7, from 37 different countries were monitored for symptoms of asthma and other allergies, such as wheezing. The researchers used feedback from the children's parents for this study. Another 304,680 children, aged 13-14, from 56 different countries, were surveyed directly with the same questions. The study included children from developing countries, such as Brazil, South Africa and Iran, as well as developed countries, such as the UK, Sweden, Canada and New Zealand.
The researchers found that: Rises in prevalence were more common than falls - especially among younger children Eczema has become more widespread worldwide among younger children Hay fever has become more prevalent globally among all age-groups Asthma prevalence among older kids, which had previously been high, more commonly decreased The study in Lancet did not surprise me: my two older children have exercise-induced asthma. However, you do wonder if there is something other than taking medicine that you can do for allergies. What environmental stimuli have contributed to this condition? How can they be changed to reduce allergies? I don't know, but maybe you have some ideas.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
8-29-2006 @ 2:12PM
ann adams said...We may be the airborne allergy capital of the United States (or so it seems). My girls aren't troubled too much by it but our school absentees are sky high.
Eczema and hay fever were common when I was a child and my daughter (now 50) suffered terribly from eczema until she suddenly outgrew it. Nothing worked.
I blame pollution for almost everything of course but I don't think anyone is listening.
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8-29-2006 @ 2:57PM
Ethel said...My son just was diagnosed as having a food allergy to peanuts, which I expected, and flax seed, which is very uncommon. What I did not expect was my son's allergist suggested that with the eczema, allergy to dog, and hayfever that a preventive 18 month course of Zyrtec (cetirizine) was warranted to prevent asthma in the future since at 19 months he had no signs of asthma. He said it has been shown for kids with hayfever and eczema aged under 3 years there is a 50% reduction of the incidence of future asthma with this course of action. The thinking is that the Zyrtec prevents migration of eisonophils into the lungs
I wish I had the study in my hands so I could tell you who the authors were and what journal it was in, but the data was compelling - oh I found it! From Pediatric allergy and immunology : official publication of the European Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, "Long-term treatment with cetirizine of infants with atopic dermatitis: a multi-country, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial (the ETAC trial) over 18 months." 2002 Aug;13(4):278-86. For the most part I know asthma kind be very scary besides life threatening so we decided it was a good thing to do.
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8-29-2006 @ 3:14PM
ellen said...One contributing factor to the rise in allergies and asthma is our society's insitence on sterilizing our environment. Have you tried to find hand soap that isn't anti-bacterial lately? By "killing" all the "germs" and sterilizing the environment, our immune systems are not given their low-level daily workout, so when they do encounter a foreign substance, the immune system either fails or over-reacts. Let the immune system "work out" or "train" naturally from an early age to prevent allergies and asthma. A clean home does not mean a sterile home.
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8-29-2006 @ 3:38PM
ben said...Ellen is right. Studies about polio have confirmed that the dirt kids get into, helps to imunize them against many conditions.
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