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[1] http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/05/508348588/...
Never heard about peanut allergy here in India, looks like a first world problem.
India does have a huge problem with lots of people dying from poor food (and other) sanitation practices, though. When your house is burning down you don't notice a light left on in the attic.
Peanut allergy is largely unheard of in India across a wide range of geographies and socio-economic classes. There are literally hundreds of millions of Indians who do not die of improper sanitation, and who don't have peanut allergies.
Instead of learning what people can from experiences around the world (such as the fact that kids' immune systems are more likely to be untrained due to almost unscientific, excessive obsession with hygiene, not letting kids be exposed to dirt and to the elements, using hand sanitizers for the slightest of things etc.), you choose to make an irrelevant 'GOTCHA' snipe.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
According to my pediatrician, research shows that exposing children to peanuts earlier decreases the likelihood of a child developing a peanut allergy.
I gave my son a bite of the peanut butter cookie I was eating, when he was six months old, nearly killed him. So this "expose them early and it's not a problem" maybe true part of the time for some allergens, but certainly not all the time for all allergens. Edit: Down voters care to comment?
Never heard about peanut allergy here in India, looks like a first world problem.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diseases_of_affluence
It's weird how acknowledged the problem is in the US (and Europe?) and how rare it is elsewhere. Trying to convince people in certain countries that peanut allergies are real can be really difficult, because they have never heard of such a thing. It's also even hard to find information online about the worldwide prevalence of peanut allergies because almost all of the data is US-based, with the occasional tidbit from the UK or continental Europe.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
India does have a huge problem with lots of people dying from poor food (and other) sanitation practices, though. When your house is burning down you don't notice a light left on in the attic.
This is a ridiculous statement, similar in tone to reactions in Western media any time any Indian achievement (space, medicine etc.) is mentioned, and reeks of arrogance. Peanut allergy is largely unheard of in India across a wide range of geographies and socio-economic classes. There are literally hundreds of millions of Indians who do not die of improper sanitation, and who don't have peanut allergies. Instead of l…
I'm not advocating for either behavior, but it seems to me that some people only want to others to learn from their experience and not the other way around.
Never heard about peanut allergy here in India, looks like a first world problem.
There's something called the Hygiene Hypothesis which states that "a lack of early childhood exposure to infectious agents, symbiotic microorganisms (such as the gut flora or probiotics), and parasites increases susceptibility to allergic diseases by suppressing the natural development of the immune system" .[1] In other words, it could mean that excessive hygiene in childhood could be causing allergies. [1] - https:…
2. I think this treatment could potentially be a lot more deadly than the problem. It's a case of unintended side effects...in this case over-confidence vs. a strict no peanuts ever policy.
Imagine a kid has had the treatment and can eat 3 or 4 peanuts without a problem...a year or two later, maybe older & wanting to show off or over-confident, the child eats 12 peanuts...has an anaphylactic attack and dies. This case vs. a child who religiously avoids all peanuts, never considers them. A possible unintended effect related to psychology that I think should be considered.
3. Antibiotic use in infants and toddlers have been linked to a higher risk of allergies (maybe peanut allergies though I don't know if that's been studied & maybe that's why peanut allergies are a big problem in the US but not in India where most people don't take a lot of medicines)...try to avoid them if possible in small children though please listen to your doctor's advice. Antibiotics have some side effects which aren't great but on the whole have saved an incalculable number of lives.
I never knew that peanut oil was used as a vaccine adjuvant. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2130368/pdf/jhy...
[2] http://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/antiv...