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posted by cmn32480 on Tuesday October 13 2015, @10:11PM   Printer-friendly
from the ahhhhh-choooooooo dept.

Allergies are becoming more frequent in the western world. One in three people in Australia will develop allergies at some time in their life. One in 20 will develop a food allergy and one in 100 will have a life-threatening allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis.

Hospital admissions for anaphylaxis doubled in the ten years from 1994 to 2004, and were five times higher in children under five years old over the same period. This suggests the development of allergy in early life is increasing at a faster rate than in adults.

Children are more likely to develop allergies to eggs, dairy products or peanuts, while adults are more likely to develop an allergy to seafood.


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Snow on Tuesday October 13 2015, @10:23PM

    by Snow (1601) on Tuesday October 13 2015, @10:23PM (#249156) Journal

    When I was a kid, I used to spend a lot of time playing in a sand box. The sandbox was roughly 1/2 sand, 1/2 cat shit.
    Lysol was something that Indians used to get drunk/high.
    'Cleaning' was using an old rag to spread the germs around and then letting it sit in the sink for a couple days only to be used again.
    Playgrounds were made of wood, and splinters were the norm (introducing whatever directly into the body).
    Hand Sanitizer didn't exist.
    Kids were social, allowing them to share germs much easier.
    We used to have chicken pox parties! (where one kid had chicken pox, so all the other parents would send their kids over to 'play' with the infected kid)
    Toys used to be in every waiting room, and they were all filthy!
    and so on...

    • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @10:33PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @10:33PM (#249161)

      Hier in Deutschland wird uns beigebracht, um Scheiße von einem frühen Alter zu essen und als Ergebnis wir wachsen stark und gesund zu sein.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:06PM

      by frojack (1554) on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:06PM (#249176) Journal

      We used to have chicken pox parties! (where one kid had chicken pox, so all the other parents would send their kids over to 'play' with the infected kid)

      Condemning them to a life long risk of Shingles.

      --
      No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
      • (Score: 2, Disagree) by hemocyanin on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:23PM

        by hemocyanin (186) on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:23PM (#249187) Journal

        You can get chickenpox by being exposed to either chickenpox or shingles if you've never had chickenpox. About 5 years ago a family member had shingles -- I got a vaccination and moved out for a week.

        The following is not the Acme of clarity, but still:

        Shingles cannot be passed from one person to another. However, the virus that causes shingles, the varicella zoster virus, can be spread from a person with active shingles to another person who has never had chickenpox. In such cases, the person exposed to the virus might develop chickenpox, but they would not develop shingles.

        http://www.cdc.gov/shingles/about/transmission.html [cdc.gov]

        Apparently, the CDC does not consider people who have not had CP, to be persons.

        • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Immerman on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:55PM

          by Immerman (3985) on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:55PM (#249209)

          Reading comprehension fail?

          You can't get shingles from an infected person - only the precursor disease, chicken pox. Whether you much later develop shingles depends on a lot of other, poorly understood, factors.

          • (Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Wednesday October 14 2015, @02:59AM

            by hemocyanin (186) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @02:59AM (#249265) Journal

            Yeah, I misunderstood the first line. But, the exact same virus is involved in Chickenpox and Shingles. So, if you've never had Chickenpox, a person w/ Shingles or CP can give you CP, and then you can get shingles. The GP was implying that if you don't attend a CP party, then you are immune from shingles, which is clearly false.

            • (Score: 2) by The Archon V2.0 on Wednesday October 14 2015, @04:11PM

              by The Archon V2.0 (3887) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @04:11PM (#249466)

              Yes but there's no guarantee a person will get chickenpox. Deliberately courting the disease is also deliberately exposing your child to the risk of shingles later in life.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 15 2015, @07:10PM

                by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 15 2015, @07:10PM (#250152)

                Chicken pox is one of those diseases that is worse when you get older. Given the likelihood of catching it at some point, it is better to be exposed when you are young.

                There is a chicken pox vaccine, so giving your child the vaccine may be a better option than exposing them to a live virus. I say may only because I haven't looked into the vaccine, so can't comment on it with certainty.

      • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:41PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:41PM (#249196)

        What you said, reverse it and then it becomes true. Not having chicken pox when young dramatically increases the chance of shingles later in life.

      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by sjames on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:46PM

        by sjames (2882) on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:46PM (#249199) Journal

        At that time, getting all the way through life without the chicken pox was extremely unlikely. Given that, it was better to get it young (but over 1 year) than as a teen or adult where it tended to be a more serious condition.

        After, the occasional exposure to the virus would keep immunity up and so reduce the chance of shingles later.

        Given that, it made sense at the time.

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by Francis on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:47PM

        by Francis (5544) on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:47PM (#249202)

        Approximately 1% of Chicken Pox cases are in adults and about 50% of the fatalities are adults. Prior to the invention of a vaccine, it was the responsible thing to do. If I ever have children, I'll make sure they get the vaccination as even in normal cases Chicken Pox is a huge inconvenience.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:07PM

      by hemocyanin (186) on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:07PM (#249177) Journal

      My parents were hippies. I have a picture of me in my early toddlerhood sitting naked in the rocks and sand of some riverbed in some remote national park where we were living out of a camper, chewing on a stick I picked up with dirt drool oozing out of the corners of my giant smile. I rarely ever even get a cold.

      I do have two allergies though, well one for certain and one "maybe". After rebuilding a fiberglass boat and not being adequately careful about exposure to epoxy and polyester resins (I practically bathed in the crap), I developed a contact dermatitis such that if I touch the stuff with bare skin now, even a minute quantity, I get a rash of water blisters between my fingers. Interestingly, the fumes from HIPS filament during 3D printing cause the same reaction (ABS and PLA cause no reaction). Also when I was around the 6th grade, I got a rash after taking Tylenol, but haven't conducted further testing -- just never took Tylenol again so I can't conclusively say I'm allergic to that.

      I feel lucky though -- of those two things one is my fault for over-exposing myself, and the other (if true) doesn't inconvenience me at all. Plus, I love gluteny chewy French bread, cats, the sweet smell of spring, and milk.

    • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:07PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:07PM (#249178)

      1/2 cat shit?! In MY day, the sandbox consisted of NOTHING BUT cat shit!

      • (Score: 2, Redundant) by Nerdfest on Wednesday October 14 2015, @12:19AM

        by Nerdfest (80) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @12:19AM (#249218)

        Luxury.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 14 2015, @08:27PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 14 2015, @08:27PM (#249614)

          He had a box!? In my day we just had catshit, and we liked it that way.

    • (Score: 2) by goodie on Wednesday October 14 2015, @01:27AM

      by goodie (1877) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @01:27AM (#249239) Journal

      Interesting as I've been reading about this recently. My son has no allergies but my no 1yo daughter was diagnosed with severe allergy to dog (and we have had a dog for 12 years...), cat, and egg after having a skin reaction eating an omelet. Me and my wife are not from NA and have no particular allergies (save for cats for my wife). Fast forward about 5 months later and further testing after ingestion of pinenuts and subsequent skin rash and vomiting showed very strong allergy to pinenuts and very mild allergy to egg and dog (cat still remains but my wife is also allergic to them). Anyway point is, for young children, as the immune system is under development, they seem to evolve and be able to grow out of them rather quickly. The doctor wanted the dog out of the house asap under the threat of asthma and I was quite reluctant given that it seemed more like a contact irritation than an allergy as we understand it nowadays.

      Now whether controlled exposure might help more than no contact until an allergist decides it's time to try again is still unknown but we still no very little about this. There are theories about gut bacteria and a bunch of other things that seek to explain why allergies may be absent from some people. Look up studies about the farm effect, e.g., http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22892709 [nih.gov]

      Between my son and my daughter's births (2 years) they had already reversed their recommendations on exposure to peanuts!

      But growing up, I have NEVER heard of a food allergy of any sort, and certainly not of tragic cases such as this one: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/queens-student-allergic-reaction-1.3237357 [www.cbc.ca]

    • (Score: 1, Troll) by RobotLove on Wednesday October 14 2015, @02:16PM

      by RobotLove (3304) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @02:16PM (#249404)

      You are implying that increased levels of sanitation are leading to increased levels of allergies. This is certainly a common perception. But is there any actual evidence for this?

      If there isn't, this just becomes unhelpful speculation.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 14 2015, @03:34PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 14 2015, @03:34PM (#249448)

        >But is there any actual evidence for this?

        Yeah, huge gigantic mountains of it. Go google "sanitation allergies", do not waste time arguing from ignorance.

  • (Score: 2) by SubiculumHammer on Tuesday October 13 2015, @10:32PM

    by SubiculumHammer (5191) on Tuesday October 13 2015, @10:32PM (#249160)

    Another hypothesis is that we encounter many more types of foreign substances now coming from all over the world.

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by frojack on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:00PM

      by frojack (1554) on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:00PM (#249174) Journal

      That wasn't even on the list of reasons.

      The Reasons
      1) Decreased exposure to infections or microbes – or both – in early life could lead to an increased risk of allergy. (Helicopter Parents)
      2) Delayed introduction of allergenic foods, such as eggs and nuts, until later in childhood (Helicopter Parents)
      3) Different methods of preparing foods can impact the degree to which they invoke an allergic response
      4) Vitamin D deficiency may increase the risk to develop allergies. Too much sun screen. (Helicopter Parents)
      5) Allergies may develop after exposure to allergens, such as dairy products or nut oils in skin moisturizers, (Helicopter Parents)
      6) Altered gut bacterial species due to low-fibre diets and widespread antibiotic usage

      We has met the enemy and the is mom.

      --
      No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Reziac on Wednesday October 14 2015, @05:10AM

        by Reziac (2489) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @05:10AM (#249284) Homepage

        7) More people surviving allergic reactions that would have been fatal before modern medicine. Now they survive, reproduce, and pass on any genes they may have that predispose toward allergic reactions.

        --
        And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
        • (Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday October 14 2015, @06:24AM

          by frojack (1554) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @06:24AM (#249303) Journal

          Nope, that wasn't even mentioned.

          --
          No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
          • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Wednesday October 14 2015, @06:38AM

            by Reziac (2489) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @06:38AM (#249305) Homepage

            Looking at genetics seems to be the research of last resort.
             

            --
            And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
            • (Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday October 14 2015, @06:58PM

              by frojack (1554) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @06:58PM (#249564) Journal

              I wonder if that was because the genetics weren't much of an indicator?

              If there was history, we wouldn't be wondering where the suspected increase came from.
              In fact the whole article is light on proof that there is indeed any real increase.

              Most people that have a child (usually boys) with severe peanut allergies with zero history on either side of the family.

              --
              No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
              • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Wednesday October 14 2015, @07:25PM

                by Reziac (2489) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @07:25PM (#249585) Homepage

                Might not be looking at the right factor, tho. What I mean is, it might be a more general misfire that reacts to whatever happens to first trigger it (peanuts or whatever) and is also influenced by other immune factors that are also genetic, such as perhaps an inability to dispose of histamine byproducts. How strongly it manifests can depend on whether the individual is heterozygous or homozygous, too. (Eg. MDR1 in dogs)

                A whole damn lot that we used to blame on environment turns out to be genetic. PTSD for one thing. (No surprise to me, having noted it runs in families in dogs.)

                --
                And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
                • (Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday October 14 2015, @08:39PM

                  by frojack (1554) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @08:39PM (#249619) Journal

                  Might not be looking at the right factor, tho.

                  Might not even be looking at the right TIME period either. There is a lot that happens in the womb that we are just now learning about:

                  Things like Finger Lenght [wikipedia.org] and sexuality [wikipedia.org] or Breast Cancer [breastcancer.org] and even Obesity [techtimes.com]

                  --
                  No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
                  • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Wednesday October 14 2015, @08:48PM

                    by Reziac (2489) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @08:48PM (#249625) Homepage

                    All of which are subject to genetic variation as well. Yeah, we probably haven't looked deep enough across the board. Often what we perceive as an isolated symptom is actually the arse end of a long chain of biochemical events (frex, did you know that adult-onset tooth decay can be caused by low thyroid?!)

                    There's also factors like exposure to soymilk at an early age (soy protein being a broad-spectrum allergin) which I expect have not been examined.

                    --
                    And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
    • (Score: 1) by Francis on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:50PM

      by Francis (5544) on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:50PM (#249203)

      I think it's dietary, at least in part. Whenever I consume more wheat, dairy, eggs and things like that my allergies for everything get worse. If you're body is already stressed and being exposed to things that irritate the immune system, any allergic reaction is probably going to be more of a problem.

      Or at least that's my thought, one of the best things I've done for myself was cutting back on the non-foods in my diet during times of the year that my allergies are usually a problem.

    • (Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday October 14 2015, @12:19PM

      by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 14 2015, @12:19PM (#249352)

      Huh, I was going to propose the opposite. If the standard american diet is endless wheat, soy, milk, grease, corn syrup, and artificial colorings and flavorings, then it seems inevitable after a couple years of the same crap in everything that something's gonna rebel from that constant diet. Just like some of my fellow soldiers a few decades ago after a constant diet of the same MREs for a couple months. If you eat a different garden vegetable every day for a month you'll never really get sick of vegetables... but if you eat freaking potatoes every single meal you're 1) gonna get fat from the carbs 2) gonna get real sick of potatoes, not just psychologically but maybe medically. Just like you can't kill bacteria with the same antibiotic for eternity, evolution happens.

      Something to think about in "the good old days" is people had dramatically worse living conditions. Most adults smoked, everyone had to breathe second hand smoke. It was super weird when I moved out of my parents house and suddenly I only got like 2 colds per year instead of spending most of the winter sniffling and they only last a couple days and sinus infections are unheard of and I only get a cough when I get the flu about every five years instead of like five times a winter... holy shit, second hand smoke will kill ya...

      So lets say some kid is sickly feeling and feverish and cold symptoms after eating some allergen... 40 years ago its because we spent 8 hours yesterday in grandpa's cigar smokestack and kids are supposed to spend half the winter sick with a cold now toughen up and go play outside all the kids are sick like that because they all breathe second hand smoke ... now a days the helicopter parents get freaked out, run blood tests, and I'll be damned he's medically allergic to soy, wheat, casein, whatever, like my son.

      Once in awhile I like to slam down some pizza or similar junk food and when I eat more than a slice or two I get kinda sluggish sick feeling... In the old days that's just how it was, want a cigarette to calm your tummy? Now a days its like WTF are you eating junk food for? Its pretty weird... I can eat a salad bowl bigger than my belly or a steak bigger than my hand or half a baked chicken or a freaking 3 lb bag of apples in one sitting (yeah, yeah, kinda embarrassing, but they taste so damn good) and feel great and bouncing off the walls with energy but junk food makes me feel slight nausea and super tired and blah for a day or two...

      Standard thanksgiving food is pretty much shit too, when you eat stuff like that and feel like death, which is the stereotype of passing out on the couch after thanksgiving dinner, maybe that's a sign that stuff isn't good to eat? "You shouldn't feel sick after you eat" is kind of revolutionary and pisses some people off, yet its a sensible way to live and more people should try it.

      I think this is a major component of "what makes americans fat" eat shitty food feel like shit sit on couch kinda nausea and exhausted then get fat, meanwhile the paleo types eat a salad and a grilled chicken chunk and then instead of couch sitting go on a 3 mile after dinner hike or play with the kids in the park for a couple hours and get thin and strong because they feel great.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 15 2015, @07:38PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 15 2015, @07:38PM (#250167)

        Well in some ways the diet is more uniform than ever...We are not digging for grubs, odd roots, and left over carcasses. Lots of wheat and corn. Those can be big reasons. However, I was getting at a slightly different idea...That there are many foreign substances that are not typically found in natural environments (e.g., plastics) polluting out environment, and these may lead to allergies from allosttic load

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @10:33PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @10:33PM (#249162)

    Like one doctor said this week, let your kids lick the floor. It's an important part of growing up.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:27PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:27PM (#249188)

      I remember licking the floor when I was a kid. Good times, good times.

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:55PM

      by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:55PM (#249207) Homepage Journal

      For kids to lick dirty floors innoculates them against disease. We aren't born with many immunities we acquire them through exposure to filth.

      --
      Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 1) by kazzie on Wednesday October 14 2015, @06:07AM

      by kazzie (5309) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 14 2015, @06:07AM (#249297)

      Motherly advice in this part of the world advises to stop sterilizing baby/toddler's food bottles when they start licking the pram wheels.

      • (Score: 4, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday October 14 2015, @02:17PM

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 14 2015, @02:17PM (#249405) Journal

        LOL - never heard it put that way, but I think we did about the same thing. When the kids started picking stuff up and putting them in their mouths, I had to ask, "WTF we sterilizing bottles for? Your kid just ate the most gargantuan spider I've ever seen, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't sterile!"

        You may think I'm kidding, but really - the wife called me to "Come get this spider!" I spotted the spider, turned my head to find a shoe or something to squash him with, and in two seconds that spider disappeared and the baby appeared in it's place. I'm searching like some kind of nut, trying to find the stupid spider. Suddenly, I realized, there's a big black hair hanging down the baby's chin. Big black hair? No one in the house has black hair. Yep, a closer look determines that it's a spider leg. "Uhhhhh - should we take him to the hospital?" "I don't know, was it a poisonous spider?" "How do I know, it was an 8 legged spider!" "Let me call Mama, she'll know what to do!" "Why, does your mama eat spiders?" "Stop being such a smart ass, you're the one who let your son eat a spider!"

        Oh, fun days, LMAO. But, we stopped sterilizing his bottles right about that time.

        • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 14 2015, @08:36PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 14 2015, @08:36PM (#249617)

          > But, we stopped sterilizing his bottles right about that time.

          Because he died?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @10:35PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @10:35PM (#249164)

    I lived for over a decade in Tucson, being a transplant from the Midwest. One day, while driving with a co-worker to the work site, he asked me if I had any allergies yet. I told him that, no, I didn't seem to have any problem with allergies. He simply said, "well, you will." It was almost like it was expected of me that I should develop some sort of allergy, like it was some rite of passage or something. Very weird. I'm still allergy free.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 14 2015, @07:06PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 14 2015, @07:06PM (#249570)

      Tucson has a lot of cactus/plants with unusual pollen. There is also a lot of dust that gets kicked up into the air by construction and wind-storms. A fungus that lives in the earth can get into the lungs and grow causing a disease called Valley Fever. Because it is a desert, for years it was assumed that there wasn't as much pollen and so allergy sufferers from other parts of the country were told to move there for relief. The reality is that there are various other allergens endemic to the environment. These could be some of the reasons for your co-worker's comment.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:01PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:01PM (#249175)

    Change your fucking name. Now, I can't blame phoenix for being a prolific submitters, but you editors should bear some ownership?

    So much "social science" bullshit. And yeah, medicine is more/less a bullshit social science nowadays, if you go by the media.

    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday October 14 2015, @01:36PM

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @01:36PM (#249383) Journal

      martyb has put "SoylentNews by the Numbers" in the Submission queue to take stock of where the community is, so in keeping with that here's a mini-survey of submissions and what's hit the home page since Friday:

      I submitted 44 stories since Friday, 1 was rejected. 6 of them have been accepted but haven't hit the home page yet, 7 remain in the Submission queue. Here's the list by category, with number of comments for those that have posted.

      SCIENCE

      Why ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ Sound So Similar in So Many Languages Tuesday October 13, @04:02AM
      Chinese SSD Maker Eyes U.S. Market for 8TB Drive Intro Tuesday October 13, @03:46AM
      Forgotten Language: Jorf Could Have Been Python (or Ruby) Tuesday October 13, @03:40AM
      Hackers Can Steal Your Brain Waves Tuesday October 13, @03:32AM
      Can Making Seawater Drinkable Quench the World's Thirst? Tuesday October 13, @03:22AM
      RNA Editing Technique Treats Severe Form of Muscular Dystrophy Tuesday October 13, @03:16AM 0 Comments
      Convicted by Code Tuesday October 13, @03:11AM
      How Scientists Fool Themselves – and How They Can Stop Tuesday October 13, @02:58AM
      ‘99.99 Percent Air’: Boeing Releases Video of Revolutionary Lightweight Metal Tuesday October 13, @02:52AM
      Engineers Develop Sonar Navigation, Mapping System for Unmanned Aircraft Monday October 12, @06:10AM 3 Comments
      Mussels Inspire New Flame Retardant Monday October 12, @12:47AM 7 Comments
      Naughty or Nice? One Brain Scan Is Now All It Takes to Find Out Monday October 12, @12:42AM 55 Comments
      How a Battery Cut Microsoft Datacenter Costs by a Quarter Monday October 12, @12:20AM 24 Comments
      Android Marshmallow Has a Hidden Feature: Universal Translation Sunday October 11, @11:53PM 24 Comments
      What's Not Up, Docs? Google Docs Goes Down in Time for Friday Beers Saturday October 10, @01:24AM 50 Comments
      Designing a Sustainable Diet Saturday October 10, @12:46AM 40 Comments
      Homemade Rocket Hits Record-Breaking 2,723 Feet Using Only Water and Air Saturday October 10, @12:07AM 15 Comments
      Nanoscale Photodetector Promises Next Generation Photonic Circuits Saturday October 10, @12:00AM 0 Comments
      Digital Voyeur Spied On Women’s Webcams 5-12 Hours a Day Friday October 09, @11:46PM 32 Comments
      Australian Prime Minister Runs Private E-mail Server, Uses Confide and Wickr Friday October 09, @11:35PM Rejected
      World’s First Laundry-folding Robot Unveiled in Japan Friday October 09, @06:08AM 23 Comments
      Scientists Convert Harmful Algal Blooms Into High-Performance Battery Electrodes Friday October 09, @03:04AM 9 Comments
      Researchers Test the Brain's Number Sense Perception Friday October 09, @02:58AM 6 Comments
      Mexican Site Yields New Details of Sacrifice of Spaniards Friday October 09, @02:53AM 24 Comments
      Discovery of How Environmental Memories May Be Transmitted from a Father to His Grandchildren Friday October 09, @02:30AM 26 Comments
      Ancient Genome From Africa Sequenced for the First Time Friday October 09, @02:23AM 3 Comments
      Why Elephants Rarely Get Cancer Friday October 09, @02:17AM 8 Comments
      Smoking, Heavy Alcohol Use Are Associated With Epigenetic Signs of Aging Friday October 09, @02:12AM 20 Comments
      Ubuntu 15.10: More Kitten Than Beast – But Beware the Claws Sunday October 11, @06:14PM 46 Comments

      SOCIAL SCIENCE

      Allergies Are Becoming More Frequent. Why? Monday October 12, @04:28AM 45 Comments

      TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE POLICY

      Broadband Britain - is It Working? Tuesday October 13, @03:03AM
      Cyberwar Rules of Engagement: Military, Law Bods Mull Update Monday October 12, @06:22AM
      Inside China’s Plan to Give Every Citizen a Character Score Monday October 12, @01:05AM 25 Comments
      Shift from Fossil Fuels Risks Popping 'Carbon Bubble': World Bank Monday October 12, @01:00AM 42 Comments
      EFSA Report Considers Risks of Eating Insects Monday October 12, @12:06AM 41 Comments
      Should People Be Able to Demand That Websites 'Do Not Track' Them? Sunday October 11, @11:40PM 38 Comments
      Alaska Mulls Extra Oil Drilling to Cope With Climate Change Sunday October 11, @11:58PM 24 Comments
      Do We Need an Ethics of Self-organizing Tissue? Saturday October 10, @12:16AM 8 Comments
      NASA Offers 1,200 Patents to Startups, With No Upfront Licensing Costs Friday October 09, @11:27PM 13 Comments
      VW Says Rogue Engineers, Not Executives, Responsible for Emissions Scandal Friday October 09, @02:06AM 64 Comments

      GENERAL NEWS

      For the Recent and Soon-to-be College Grads Who Want to Start Companies Monday October 12, @12:14AM 5 Comments
      Luxury Bomb Shelters for the Billionaires Afraid of Doomsday Tuesday October 13, @03:52AM
      Exclusive - Transatlantic Divide: How U.S. Pays Three Times More for Drugs Tuesday October 13, @03:27AM
      Just 158 Families Have Provided Nearly Half of the Money for Efforts to Capture the White House Monday October 12, @12:53AM 74 Comments
      The Appearance of Being Earnest Monday October 12, @12:36AM 14 Comments

      SUMMARY

      44 Stories
      SCIENCE: 28, 64%
      TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE POLICY: 10, 23%
      SOCIAL SCIENCE: 1, 2%
      GENERAL NEWS: 5, 11%

      So, pure Science/Technology constitutes 63% of what I've submitted. Social Science constitutes 2%. Of those that have posted, the average # of comments for pure Science/Technology articles, 20.75. Average # of comments for Social Science, 45. But that's ridiculous as a sample size of 1, so let's throw in Technology & Science Policy as "not hard enough" news, that gives you an average comment # of 33.33. If you throw in the 3 General News articles that posted, the average comments drops slightly to 32.75.

      It seems that "softer" science/tech news generates more discussion than "pure" science/tech news, with the two highest comment scores coming in for General News and Technology & Science Policy respectively.[in bold for key take-aways amid a big block of text]

      Those are the numbers for what I've submitted (because it's easy to copy & paste mine as a block), I'll leave the exercise of my submissions plus others' to you for the laborious copy & paste.

      If you have other kinds of stories you'd like to see more, submit them. It's a community-driven site and anybody can. Me, I get my stories from various tech sites, the Science & Tech sections of "major" media outlets, and the SN RSS feed and submit from them based on ~18 years of experience with the community here and on Slashdot. Some days there are more "soft" stories than "hard." It's the way the cookie crumbles.

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:09PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:09PM (#249179)

    Allergies are becoming more frequent in the western world. One in three people in Australia will develop allergies at some time in their life. One in 20 will develop a food allergy and one in 100 will have a life-threatening allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis.

    What was it before, Is one in 100 a lot compared to the past? Why is Australia used as a proxy for "Western World"?

    Hospital admissions for anaphylaxis doubled in the ten years from 1994 to 2004, and were five times higher in children under five years old over the same period. This suggests the development of allergy in early life is increasing at a faster rate than in adults.

    This is data from 10 years ago, is there no more recent data to support the headline?

    Children are more likely to develop allergies to eggs, dairy products or peanuts, while adults are more likely to develop an allergy to seafood.

    More likely than in the past, or more likely vs each other (children vs adults)?

    Perhaps surveillance changed so that more people are diagnosed at the hospital, or in general. It could be like the increasing placebo effect and the data either was never very reliable to begin with, or is becoming unreliable.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by sjames on Wednesday October 14 2015, @12:33AM

      by sjames (2882) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @12:33AM (#249220) Journal

      Anaphylaxis isn't the sort of thing that goes un-diagnosed. If you have an anaphylactic reaction, you can't not know. So if the hospitals are seeing more it's because there are more to see.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 14 2015, @01:52AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 14 2015, @01:52AM (#249242)

        You'd think so, but medical data is tricky. The definition also may have changed to become more lenient. Perhaps a new test was developed and now a lot of moderate anaphylaxis (that used to be something else) is now meeting the criteria. That would not surprise me either.

        • (Score: 2) by sjames on Wednesday October 14 2015, @08:15PM

          by sjames (2882) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @08:15PM (#249608) Journal

          It's a well defined condition and it has no mild form. Your blood pressure either drops dangerously low or it doesn't.

      • (Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday October 14 2015, @12:43PM

        by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 14 2015, @12:43PM (#249358)

        What about the long term repetition factor?

        I'm familiar with this WRT boating / sailboating and fiberglass hull repairs, you can practically swim in unpolymerized resin and catalyst its not overly toxic (its not food, but its not as toxic as some paints for example) and snort the fumes and it just doesn't matter... then at some unknown individual amount of exposure its massive allergic reaction time up to and including going into shock. Some boater people actually recommend working in pairs or hanging out with people when working with fiberglass because when you're number is up, you might need someone to call the ambulance. I think they might be overdoing it a bit, but whatever.

        And after the reaction sets in, you'll never, ever, be exposed to uncured resin without the allergic response being as bad or worse.

        So far I've not hit my limit... but I've heard of it happening to people the first time they patch a hull. Doesn't take much either, even a small project replacing a fitting can set off the allergic reaction until the stuff cures. Allergic people are fine after it cures and the boat airs out a bit.

        There is some BS about allergen free or reduced allergen fiberglass, and some BS about it being less trustworthy in storm conditions and needs replacing more often and looks weird, and plenty of BS about respirators and gloves, its all very rumor based. Commercial hull makers seem to work around it by hiring illegal aliens so they don't have to care about health care and using megatons of ventilation and doing the glove/respirator thing. I'd suggest copying them at least 2 outta 3 preferably the ventilation and respirator options.

        Anyway I don't think it far fetched that if soy is in all junk food and you eat junk food (aka soy) every freaking meal for 30 years, just like fiberglass resin maybe you reach some mysterious limit and start getting a sensitization reaction and you ignore it and next thing you're like 40 and outta the blue you're in shock from soy, or peanuts, or crustaceans or WTF. I know resin and epoxy and a couple drying oils all have that allergen response pattern.

        • (Score: 2) by sjames on Wednesday October 14 2015, @09:13PM

          by sjames (2882) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @09:13PM (#249639) Journal

          That is a reasonable hypothesis. Of course, that would be a genuine rise in incidence rather than an artifact of reporting.

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:13PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:13PM (#249182)

    And that's what we really excel at in the west.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by termigator on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:28PM

    by termigator (4271) on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:28PM (#249189)

    The microbiome in our digestive track plays an important role in our overall health and the functioning of our immune system. One theory about the increase of allergies and food sensitivities is the destruction of our microbiome due to the overuse of antibiotics in our food supply and general use on humans. The ever increase of processed food intake makes it harder for the beneficial bacteria in our system to survive.

    Cesarean births prevents the initial seeding of beneficial bacteria from the vaginal canal during child birth. Some practitioners are now swabbing the canal if there is a cesarean birth so they can seed the infant.

    In childhood, if the good bacteria does not develop or is killed off before maturity, some strains may never come back, leading to health problems.

    • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 14 2015, @05:17AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 14 2015, @05:17AM (#249287)

      Indeed. This is one important factor. *But* this does not explain why allergies continue to rise.

      One important hypothesis is eczema. Eczema in children can arise because children do not get enough sun exposure. No sun, results in lower vitamin D levels, and apparently that is related to eczema outbreaks. Eczema - broken skin - then allows food particle exposure into bloodstream through the skin, instead of through the intestine. Immature immune system then treats such things as an infection. Exposure to same foods via intestinal wall signals immune system that such a thing (like peanut protein) is harmless.

      So advice for parents,

        1. don't spray your lawn, ever (seriously, WTF is wrong with you people? spraying poison so your lawn "looks good"? then spreading that poison throughout your house on shoes or whatever .. insanity)
        2. get kids outside, on your lawn (or park, whatever), during hours of reasonably low UV, without sunscreen.
        3. don't use oral antibiotics for kids under 5 (to protect gut flora)

      • (Score: 1) by rcamera on Wednesday October 14 2015, @11:29AM

        by rcamera (2360) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @11:29AM (#249345) Homepage Journal

        don't spray the lawn ever? what's your recommendation for tick prevention?

        --
        /* no comment */
        • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday October 14 2015, @02:31PM

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 14 2015, @02:31PM (#249419) Journal

          Get some predators. Guinea chickens will clean every bit of vermin from your lawn. Regular chickens do a pretty good job as well. Can't keep predatory fowl for some reason? Diatomaceous earth works pretty good. But, funny thing, I can't recall ever picking up ticks from a well maintained yard. "Well maintained" meaning little more then regularly mown. I don't think ticks stand up very well to being thrashed around under a mower deck, then being thrown out the chute. Other predators include lizards and snakes, and I guess frogs.

          Ticks are generally brought into the yard by pets. Regular pet baths help to prevent that. Put those flea and tick drops on your pets, it poisons the parasites as soon as they get a drop of blood.

          But, back on subject - maybe it's a GOOD THING to get a tick. Barring Lime's Disease, I've never heard of anyone dropping dead from a tick bite. In line with some of the other ideas/suggestions in this discussion, being exposed to a tick or ten as a child might prevent later allergies. Hell, I really don't know, but it's an idea.

      • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday October 14 2015, @01:45PM

        by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @01:45PM (#249388) Journal

        Huh. My son has a dust allergy that gives him terrible eczema. He gets plenty of sun, though. Maybe I should tell him to lick the dusty floor.

        --
        Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday October 14 2015, @02:05PM

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @02:05PM (#249397) Journal

      The research that's being done on microbiomes is fascinating because of the implications for nutrition, obesity, etc. It really does redefine us human beings as part of a more intricate web of life than we ever guessed. But is it that, or is it the new snake oil?

      I have felt whipsawed between conflicting health & nutrition advice all my life. When I was a kid, it was "sugar is bad!" and "fat is bad." So we had to buy soda and stuff with NutraSweet in it, because Saccharine was bad. A little later, we were told to choose food with Oleen instead of regular fat, because finally we had a good replacement for evil, evil fat; except, the whole "anal seepage" thing was a little bit of a market killer.

      Later, we were suddenly presented with an A-ha! moment, because it had been definitively proven that cancer arises because of free radicals and therefore all we had to do was eat foods with lots and lots of anti-oxidants (which meme continues today, BTW). Then it was the Era of Atkins, which told us that "Carbs are the ENEMY!" Nearly at the same time there were people who said, "It's not ALL fat that's bad, it's that some fats are good, and some are bad. Eat/Buy/Buy/Buy Omega-3 fats!!!"

      In the last 5 years it's been a reprise of of anti-oxidants + Omega-3's, bundled together into "superfoods." I don't mind on a culinary level, because I find I quite like eating kale and the like. But so did my grandmother, a child of the Depression, who grew her own vegetables her whole life and never went in for diet fads.

      But now here we are on the birthing of a new age, the Age of the MicroBiome, and I ask myself, "Is it real this time, or yet another goddamn marketing scheme in the offing?"

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
      • (Score: 1) by termigator on Wednesday October 14 2015, @04:38PM

        by termigator (4271) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @04:38PM (#249482)

        When my mother went on some probiotics awhile back, it had a noticeable effect in relieving digestive problems she had for years.

        I think the challenge is that each person will likely have different imbalances, so not one thing will make things better. Add to that unregulated market of things like probiotics allow snake oil salesfolks to sell products that will likely not have the potency specified or may contain cultures that may not be of use. Therefore, it makes it harder for regular people to know which is hogwash and what may be backed by some real science.

        The doctor/nutritionist I see does her homework and runs medical tests before prescribing a treatment, which may include probiotics and dietary changes. I went thru the elimination diet years ago and then introduced single food items to see if I had any reactions. I was not a garbage eater to begin with, but I discovered items that did affect me. I now avoid dairy since I discovered it caused me digestive problems (i used to be a big milk drinker). Since being on probiotic regime and changing my diet, I do not get sick like I used to. I was losing weight that I did not need to lose, and now, I can maintain my weight.

        Side note, my health problems started when I had long term exposure to an environmental toxin, which likely contributed to the digestive health problems I had. I was not really aware of the negative effects of the exposure until I read an article in the newspaper that described an incident that mirrored my own experience. Change in diet and use of probiotics has helped me personally. I used to be able to eat anything, but I cannot no longer.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 14 2015, @05:52PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 14 2015, @05:52PM (#249530)

        I have felt whipsawed between conflicting health & nutrition advice all my life.

        The reason why you are feeling "whipsawed" is because you are listening to the wrong people. The siren call of Nutrasweet/Oleen/Adkins is coming from people desperate to sell you something; don't fall for it. In fact, I would say that the obsession with counting calories is a bit of a red herring too; instead of counting how many calories you are consuming, you should be focusing more attention on where those calories are coming from. Are your calories coming from cakes, candies, and cookies? Or are they coming from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains? There is no real mystery to how to lose weight and get/stay healthy; in fact, your doctor has almost certainly been telling you for decades. You should be eating lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. You should, at the least, moderate your consumption of red meats. You should avoid processed sugars and fats (all those "empty calories") as much as possible. Toss out all the cookies, candies, and cakes from your cupboard; especially, toss out anything that says "diet" on it. You should be getting regular exercise at least two to three times per week. For the vast majority of people this is all that is needed to lose weight and improve health. Following my own advice over the last few months, I have managed to lose about 25 pounds; if I lose another ten pounds I will have trimmed my BMI down to 25, putting me at the edge of normal weight. So, no need to feel whipsawed! There really isn't any secret to this! Just follow the advice that doctors have already known (and been telling us) for decades.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 14 2015, @08:23PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 14 2015, @08:23PM (#249613)

      I try to do my part by seeding young college students with my mature genital flora.

  • (Score: 2) by jdavidb on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:31PM

    by jdavidb (5690) on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:31PM (#249190) Homepage Journal

    Several friends of mine used to start in on how increased allergies and asthma and other diseases today were caused by all the chemicals we are exposed to nowadays. There were religious overtones, e.g., we were not living the natural life God intended and allergies were the result or consequence (or maybe even punishment).

    I would always cut them off by commenting that because we had made so many discoveries in God's creation, including chemicals, allowed people to live today who would have died in childhood from allergies/asthma/other diseases. Those people go on to have afflictions like allergies that would have been uncommon before because those who had them would be DEAD. I closed up by commenting on how I am severe asthmatic and extremely grateful for the medicines mankind has developed that allow me to be alive, and hinting that I resent the implication that asthma is an affliction on me for people not living as God intended. That always cut the conversations really short, which was my goal. :)

    --
    ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
    • (Score: 2) by meisterister on Wednesday October 14 2015, @12:16AM

      by meisterister (949) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @12:16AM (#249217) Journal

      Damn straight! I wouldn't even be alive without teh evil unnatural chemicals (in my case antibiotics), and a lot of people's qualities of life would be far worse without them.

      --
      (May or may not have been) Posted from my K6-2, Athlon XP, or Pentium I/II/III.
    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by BK on Wednesday October 14 2015, @02:13AM

      by BK (4868) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @02:13AM (#249254)

      Infant and child mortality used to be more than 50%. It really is that easy.

      --
      ...but you HAVE heard of me.
    • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Wednesday October 14 2015, @05:15AM

      by krishnoid (1156) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @05:15AM (#249286)

      I heard it had to do with low levels of chemical pollutants in the air and water, particularly in regions with poor pollution control laws/enforcement.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 14 2015, @12:47PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 14 2015, @12:47PM (#249361)

      Several friends of mine used to start in on how increased allergies and asthma and other diseases today were caused by all the chemicals we are exposed to nowadays. There were religious overtones, e.g., we were not living the natural life God intended and allergies were the result or consequence (or maybe even punishment).

      And these people are your friends why?

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:47PM

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:47PM (#249201) Homepage Journal

    "Muscle Milk: Contains No Milk"

    Read the ingredients; it got Casein in it. Casein - MILK protein - was what I was allergic to.

    Fortunately I grew out of it, but I remember my mother bursting into tears as she tried to find me non-dairy milk substitutes for my breakfast. Just because is says "Non-Dairy" does not mean it's non-dairy.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Daiv on Wednesday October 14 2015, @08:38PM

      by Daiv (3940) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @08:38PM (#249618)

      I was also allergic to Casein as an infant in the late 70's and I'm sure my mother can relate to your mothers experience. So thankful to FSM that I grew out of it. I am more fascinated by research studies that examine how allergies are shed, more than how they are obtained.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:52PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 13 2015, @11:52PM (#249204)

    On the food is getting weird front: You can go buy "chicken" breasts that claim "up to 10% natural chicken" and "cheese" called Real(tm) Cheese .

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday October 14 2015, @12:33AM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 14 2015, @12:33AM (#249221) Journal

    Mother's milk has to be a factor, I'm sure. Over the years, I've read so many articles about breast feeding children. It factors into almost everything that affects a child's life, and extends into the adult years. Physical health, mental health, social relations, everything. Everything I've ever read says that the best thing a young mother can do for her child, is to breast feed him for the first year. Beyond the first year, there are also supposed to be benefits, but many of us feel uncomfortable with the idea of two or more year old children demanding the teat, especially in public.

    If a mother can't breastfeed for a year (it does happen, just not often) then giving Baby all the breast milk possible for the first days, or even the first month, still helps the child a lot.

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by ledow on Wednesday October 14 2015, @07:09AM

    by ledow (5567) on Wednesday October 14 2015, @07:09AM (#249314) Homepage

    There's substantial research (can't dig at the moment - in work) which suggests that LACK of exposure and OVER-exposure are the cause of allergies.

    Pregnant mothers have been told to avoid eating nuts while pregnant. This is new and not been done in previous generations. As such, the babies aren't get whatever they need to combat nut allergies (presumably some of their mothers antibodies to such things, which she would have if she just ate normally). Primates virtually ALL eats nuts, berries and fruits in the wild alongside their normal diets. We have decided that's "wrong" in the last generation or two and stopped doing it.

    Result: Massive increase in nut allergies in children.

    Cure? There are a number of repeatable studies to show that injecting tiny amounts of NUT into the people who are allergic to precisely that thing, and slowly building up the dose, is enough to cure it. Literally people who would have died before are able to eat a small bag of nuts without consequence.

    Allergies are the result of over-worried parents and stupid advice to stop doing things that have always been natural. Smoking while pregnant? That's stupid because we never used to do that. Eating nuts while pregnant? Do it. Don't avoid it. Don't over-consume them. Just eat normally like a damn adult. Similarly with eggs (massive fear over eggs in pregnancy since the last generation or so). Seafood (when do you first eat proper crustacean as a modern child, and what section of food are you most likely to be allergic to?).

    You can kind of understand allergy to exotic fruit (e.g. kiwi seems particularly common) because it's unlikely that you'll have been exposed to it when you first encounter it as an adult / teenager / whatever. It's the same thing.

    I work in schools. When I was a kid, the kids with allergies (hayfever aside, but hey! Guess whether we play outside in the grass more or less nowadays!) to anything were few and far between and it was generally a deadly reaction for them. Nowadays, something like 30-50% of the kids have some allergen or "intolerance" (Grr! Don't go there!) to something or other. And while some are still life-threatening, for most it's just a rash or a slight reaction or even (in the case of "intolerance"), their belly's not too keen on it or they just don't like that particular food!

    Stop avoiding things and live your life while pregnant and with your youngster. Expose them to stuff. Air. Flowers. Pollen. Grass. Foods. Fruit. They've picked the leaf off the plant and are chewing on it? Unless you know it's a dangerous plant, let them. Their body knows quite well what's edible and what's not and they'll either reject it or suffer no ill consequences from it. Stop scrubbing your surfaces sterile to within an inch of their lives before you let the kid put their jammy hand on it.

    We know perfectly well what the cause is. Modern living and health-nuts thinking they know better than a pregnant woman's hunger pangs. The risk of such activities having serious complications in the birth is virtually zero. The risk of a life-long allergy making the kid's life hell is quite high. Stop it. Eat what you want. Expose your kids to stuff early. Ignore what the book says about when to put them onto solids and so on. Just try them on everything they are likely to come into contact with during their lives.

    Native populations and "backwards" cultures in the middle of jungles don't have these problem. They are exposed to their environment. If you're shut away in an apartment, "going out" means to the shops, all your food is regulated and sterile and you never get to play in the mud, what the hell do you THINK is happening to your immune system (which is the amplifier of your allergies)?

  • (Score: 2) by darkfeline on Thursday October 15 2015, @12:23AM

    by darkfeline (1030) on Thursday October 15 2015, @12:23AM (#249743) Homepage

    Ah, the wonders of modern medicine! In the past, such people would have been naturally selected out by such defects, but science has allowed us to overcome Mother Nature herself. It's bound to backfire sooner or later though; if you let the genetically inferior survive and reproduce, those genes are going to stay in the pool.

    I grew up with asthma, so I probably shouldn't be throwing stones, but "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away".

    --
    Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!