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Australia starts peanut allergy treatment for babies

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Re: Australia starts peanut allergy treatment for babies

#11

Post by type_enthusiast »

IncreasePosts wrote: post #7
darth_avocado wrote: post #3

I always think about the low incidence of peanut allergies in developing countries and wonder if the mother's diet during pregnancy has an effect on allergies in children? Has this been researched? Because instead of introducing peanuts and eggs to babies, introducing it to mothers is almost a no brainer.

No link because I'm on mobile, but I remember reading about how peanut allergy in Israel is nearly non-existent. This is notable because: 1) Israelis come from all over the world, and the incidence of peanut allergies are lower in, say, Sephardic Jews living in Israel compared to Sephardic Jews living in Spain. 2) a very popular snack there for kids(but also adults) are these peanut butter corn-puffs called "Bambas"(…

Strictly speaking, if all babies eat peanuts, you'll get to "nearly non-existent" peanut allergy one way or another. But you need better data than that to conclude that the change comes from allergy prevention, rather than... allergy "removal".

Edit: I guess I was just trying to say "surprising data needs detail." I should have just said that, instead of making light of how dangerous allergies are. Downvotes deserved, lesson learned.

Re: Australia starts peanut allergy treatment for babies

#12

Post by Vecr »

type_enthusiast wrote: post #11
IncreasePosts wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No link because I'm on mobile, but I remember reading about how peanut allergy in Israel is nearly non-existent. This is notable because: 1) Israelis come from all over the world, and the incidence of peanut allergies are lower in, say, Sephardic Jews living in Israel compared to Sephardic Jews living in Spain. 2) a very popular snack there for kids(but also adults) are these peanut butter corn-puffs called "Bambas"(…

Strictly speaking, if all babies eat peanuts, you'll get to "nearly non-existent" peanut allergy one way or another. But you need better data than that to conclude that the change comes from allergy prevention, rather than... allergy "removal". Edit: I guess I was just trying to say "surprising data needs detail." I should have just said that, instead of making light of how dangerous allergies are. Downvotes deserved…

You think Israel could cover something like that up?

Re: Australia starts peanut allergy treatment for babies

#13

Post by supertofu »

colechristensen wrote: post #8
Workaccount2 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It most likely has to do with how bored our immune systems are. We evolved to be constantly dirty, and we live in an extremely clean society. When your immune system has a lot to fight, it doesn't worry to much about dumb shit like pollen and peanuts.

Clean vs. dirty isn't even the right way to think about it. We used to be immersed in an environment full of life, and now we live in mostly sterile environments free of life except for maybe some of the first wave colonizer specialist microorganisms. You are filled and covered with life that isn't from your own genes, and that microbiome is now mostly disconnected from the biosphere. I get some weird skin issues som…

How fascinating. This reminds me that my autoimmune condition went into a brief and mysterious remission two summers ago, when I spent most weekends swimming in creeks. I will have to see if increased creek swimming this summer will help my autoimmune symptoms...

Re: Australia starts peanut allergy treatment for babies

#14

Post by nytesky »

supertofu wrote: post #13
colechristensen wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clean vs. dirty isn't even the right way to think about it. We used to be immersed in an environment full of life, and now we live in mostly sterile environments free of life except for maybe some of the first wave colonizer specialist microorganisms. You are filled and covered with life that isn't from your own genes, and that microbiome is now mostly disconnected from the biosphere. I get some weird skin issues som…

How fascinating. This reminds me that my autoimmune condition went into a brief and mysterious remission two summers ago, when I spent most weekends swimming in creeks. I will have to see if increased creek swimming this summer will help my autoimmune symptoms...

Yeah getting hooked up with some bugs from the creek keeps your immune system occupied.

Hookworms are another option; maybe two generations ago kids regularly walked barefoot in grass and was pretty common.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helminthic_therapy

Re: Australia starts peanut allergy treatment for babies

#15

Post by kristianp »

colechristensen wrote: post #8
Workaccount2 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It most likely has to do with how bored our immune systems are. We evolved to be constantly dirty, and we live in an extremely clean society. When your immune system has a lot to fight, it doesn't worry to much about dumb shit like pollen and peanuts.

Clean vs. dirty isn't even the right way to think about it. We used to be immersed in an environment full of life, and now we live in mostly sterile environments free of life except for maybe some of the first wave colonizer specialist microorganisms. You are filled and covered with life that isn't from your own genes, and that microbiome is now mostly disconnected from the biosphere. I get some weird skin issues som…

Just curious, is it the ocean, or a fresh water body that helps?

Re: Australia starts peanut allergy treatment for babies

#16

Post by nytesky »

darth_avocado wrote: post #3

I always think about the low incidence of peanut allergies in developing countries and wonder if the mother's diet during pregnancy has an effect on allergies in children? Has this been researched? Because instead of introducing peanuts and eggs to babies, introducing it to mothers is almost a no brainer.

I am kinda of curious about populations where peanuts aren’t common at all. I certainly didn’t have many fancy nuts (i know peanuts aren’t nuts) until well into adulthood. Why were there not wide spread peanut allergies among migratory populations?

Re: Australia starts peanut allergy treatment for babies

#17

Post by AlbertCory »

Workaccount2 wrote: post #6
darth_avocado wrote: post #3

I always think about the low incidence of peanut allergies in developing countries and wonder if the mother's diet during pregnancy has an effect on allergies in children? Has this been researched? Because instead of introducing peanuts and eggs to babies, introducing it to mothers is almost a no brainer.

It most likely has to do with how bored our immune systems are. We evolved to be constantly dirty, and we live in an extremely clean society. When your immune system has a lot to fight, it doesn't worry to much about dumb shit like pollen and peanuts.

About 20 years a doctor told me that this was a theory that wasn't widely accepted YET, but it deserved to be taken seriously. Now it's much more mainstream.

Re: Australia starts peanut allergy treatment for babies

#18

Post by makeitdouble »

Vecr wrote: post #12
type_enthusiast wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strictly speaking, if all babies eat peanuts, you'll get to "nearly non-existent" peanut allergy one way or another. But you need better data than that to conclude that the change comes from allergy prevention, rather than... allergy "removal". Edit: I guess I was just trying to say "surprising data needs detail." I should have just said that, instead of making light of how dangerous allergies are. Downvotes deserved…

You think Israel could cover something like that up?

I don't think parent is hinting at a conspiracy, and more at "natural" selection based on omnipresence of peanuts.

With no knowledge about how i goes for babies, the question would be how a 2~3 month allergic kid [0] would react to peanuts, including when not directly ingested. If it had adverse effects it would go along the line of what parent is describing.

[0] can kids that age already be allergic to peanuts ?

Re: Australia starts peanut allergy treatment for babies

#19

Post by ilickpoolalgae »

darth_avocado wrote: post #3

I always think about the low incidence of peanut allergies in developing countries and wonder if the mother's diet during pregnancy has an effect on allergies in children? Has this been researched? Because instead of introducing peanuts and eggs to babies, introducing it to mothers is almost a no brainer.

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/

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.

Re: Australia starts peanut allergy treatment for babies

#20

Post by soperj »

praseodym wrote: post #2

In The Netherlands it is recommended to introduce peanut and egg to babies between 4 and 6 months, to reduce the chances of food allergy. More information (in Dutch): https://www.voedingscentrum.nl/nl/service/vraag-en-antwoord/...

Australia changed their recommendations to match this years ago, and the incidence of allergy didn't change measurably.
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