I have never had allergies until now... why are so many people developing allergies?

So I have never really been all that sick. But as of this winter, I have been very sick. Off and on now for maybe three months I have been experiencing common cold symptoms. Now the odd thing is that, though I have runny noses and sore throats, maybe even a headache... I don't actually feel all that "sick". You know when you get sick, you become clammy and tired and sluggish--can't think etc. But now, I have all the symptoms but those! Everyone in my household has had the same problem for about the same amount of time... so my mom went in to the doctor. The doctor said within seconds of diagnosis, that she wasn't sick at all! He accredited it to allergies... Allergies? I have never had any allergies all my life... nor has my brother. Now my mom has allergies, but to things like pollen or ragweed where she breaks out in hives and has to blow here nose. NEVER has she had lung issues and throat issues from those plants, let alone in the winter... So I got to thinking... why allergies and why now? Maybe I was crazy, but now I am not sure if I am...

At school, I see many people "developing" allergies. Not to anything specific mind you, just to "winter". My mom works at both a nursing home and hospital and she says she sees the same thing there, and now I am beginning to be confused, as well as a little bit scared... So...

Allergies. What are they?

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

Allergies are pretty common. Both genes and environmental factors play a role.

The immune system normally protects the body against harmful substances, such as bacteria and viruses. It also reacts to foreign substances called allergens, which are generally harmless and in most people do not cause a problem.

But in a person with allergies, the immune response is oversensitive. When it recognizes an allergen, it releases chemicals such as histamines. which fight off the allergen. This causes allergy symptoms.

Common allergens include:
Drugs
Dust
Food
Insect bites
Mold
Pet dander
Pollen

Some people have allergy-like reactions to hot or cold temperatures, sunlight, or other environmental triggers. Sometimes, friction (rubbing or roughly stroking the skin) will cause symptoms.

A specific allergy is not usually passed down through families (inherited). However, if both your parents have allergies, you are likely to have allergies. The chance is greater if your mother has allergies.

Allergies may make certain medical conditions such as sinus problems, eczema, and asthma worse.

Now the gene part makes a lot of sense. Your mom and dad have allergies, they pass it on to you. I am no biologist but I can see the likelihood of that. So I wonder, how would you get allergies if say, your parents don't have any? Like I said earlier, my mom does have allergies, but different ones than I am experiencing (and they are not food related either I am assuming)

Late-Onset Allergies

Another reason why patients can develop allergies later in life is that they were not exposed to the item producing the allergy symptoms, and then they become exposed later in life. A great example of this is when people move, especially from one country to another and are exposed to new types of plants, trees, grasses or even indoor allergens like dust mites. It usually takes a few years after moving to the new location that these patients will develop the allergic antibody (IgE) to these new items and then develop the common allergic symptoms.

Well I have lived here my whole life... so what could have happened in the past few years to incite this?? Well the conspiracy comes in this part. I won't post links because, well we are on ATS. I guarantee you will find what you are specifically looking for in numerous amount of places just on this site, but to throw out some suggestions, think Japan. Could nuclear activity affect people in the states with allergies? What about fluoride? I have reasons to believe that it has affected some of the mental health of people born here, maybe now its side effects are manifesting in those who are older?

What can be gained from allergies?

Allergic Disease is an Epidemic

Allergies are a significant health risk reaching epidemic proportions. One in four people suffer from allergies and as many as one in two in urban areas. It is estimated that greater than 60 million Americans are affected. The financial toll on patients, employers, and the healthcare system is greater than $18 billion per year. It is among the country's most common, yet overlooked diseases. Despite the clinical and financial impact, few seek proper diagnosis and disease management.

Allergies are more than just a seasonal inconvenience. Fifty six percent of allergy sufferers experience symptoms throughout the year. Of those with perennial allergies, 71% experience worsening symptoms during certain times of year. Without proper diagnosis and treatment allergies lead to asthma and other co-morbidities. In fact allergies represent the sixth leading cause of chronic illness in the USA. They are becoming an increasingly serious concern for children. Employers should look not just at the impact of allergies on their employees but also on the impacts on their family members.

Costs due to allergic rhinitis can be divided into two categories: direct costs that are related to monies spent on the course of managing the disease and indirect costs that are due to missing work and decreased productivity due to the illness. There are also the costs associated with the co morbidities of allergic rhinitis, such as sinusitis and asthma, which are classified as “hidden” direct costs.

Ok so a lot of people have allergies, and it costs money, how much profit is to be gained from the allergies in the U.S.? $18,000,000,000 must be worth it to some people.

Here is another good link I found on the subject: Why So Many Allergies – Now?

So, now, what do you think? Maybe not nuclear warfare or fluoride, maybe some corporate scheme I don't know. Have you recently developed allergies for no apparent reason? Please share your thoughts.

I remember reading a theory that allergies were caused by dairy consumption. Not sure how much water (or milk, hah) that holds but make of it what you will.

Two words: Inflammatory Diet

Allergies have slowly taken over my life in the form of a very rare and chronic skin condition called Dermatographism - if it weren't for Zyrtec I would not be functional. I've done tons of research - I have no doubt that the common denominator in the rise of allergies in our population is a result of an inflammatory diet.

I've actually recently lost the only real allergy I had-hay fever.I've had it for every year for as long as I can remember up until about ten years ago as bad as anyone ever had it,then suddenly the next year it was gone and hasn't come back since.
I can now stand in the middle of a freshly ploughed crop field in summer,breath in deeply and say "TUUUUUUNES" (an advert on UK TV some years ago.)
Chris.

Being as you mentioned all the sources just on ATS that one may be able to attribute to a recent spike in allergies in people who were otherwise not affected by them. More, the section that specified being in a new area with new "stuff".

Though I am not all that involved in the discussions I have read a few threads regarding the chemtrails that people are so adamantly claiming are real.

If it were true, it seems logical that what ever they were spraying could be attributed to allergies. Especially if it is unfamiliar particulates floating around in the air.

I too have never been plagued by allergies until very recently, if I had to pin point it I would say roughly this winter or slightly before as well. I have heard in passing that one's body chemistry can change every seven years and what one may have not been allergic to at one point, years later they could develop an allergy to, but I am not sure how factual that is.

Very interesting thread indeed.

S&F

Allergies are an auto-immune response. When your system gets too much, it flips. You met your limit. Congrats that it's taken this long.

I've had allergies since I was a child. They were bad enough by the time I was 9 years old that I had to have treatment. I had desensitization shots for two years. They worked pretty well until I started trying to live normally with the stuff that I was allergic to. As long as I avoided them, it was manageable. But I'm allergic to wheat and its family, citric acid, eggs, soy, and peanuts. Take all of that out of your diet and not much is left. I'm also allergic to all trees and grasses. That takes out rice too, naturally, if I consume it. Well, without bread and so forth, I was using more rice and potatoes. Now I can't eat those. I'm also allergic to molds, dust, feathers, cat and dog dander, and cockroaches. What can I say? I grew up in the southern USA. My childhood was one bout of ear, nose, and/or throat infection after another.

Now I have full-blown celiac disease. I can't eat even a small amount of gluten or any other allergen without it playing havoc on my digestive system. That means that it damages my liver, my pancreas, my spleen, and my entire intestinal tract every single time.

Enough is enough. I live on practically nothing all winter - did I mention that I live in northern Europe now? - and in summer I forage for weeds so that I can eat without damaging myself further.

My strong advice is that you stay away from whatever allergens are bothering you and don't bother just covering the symptoms. If they can grow into something worse, they will. Be sure of it. Those proteins that cause allergies are not to be toyed with.

Originally posted by ForeverDusk
I remember reading a theory that allergies were caused by dairy consumption.

So many people are blind to this. Dairy is NOT essentail for a healthy diet.

Dairy was designed for a COW not a human.

Then of course there's all the antibiotics that is contains, and the growth hormone and whatever else they put in it.

The stomach is not a passive sieve, it extracts only as much calcium as you need and you can find that in a daily packet of unhealthy crisps. My point is, we do not need milk.

If you know someone who has a child that constantly wets the bed then tell them that milk/dairy can cause hives within the bladder, the hives prevent the child from knowing when the bladder is full and before the poor child knows whats happend the bed is wet again!!

Not sure about what else is out there but I can tell you that I have seen a rise in Celiacs (Gluten Allergy) in my bakery. So much so that we are considering full on gluten free baking and dropping everything else. We have a GF section that is growing faster than we can produce so something is up.

One other thing is that I had never heard of GF in Asia until I returned to N. America.

??

Originally posted by jude11
Not sure about what else is out there but I can tell you that I have seen a rise in Celiacs (Gluten Allergy) in my bakery. So much so that we are considering full on gluten free baking and dropping everything else. We have a GF section that is growing faster than we can produce so something is up.

One other thing is that I had never heard of GF in Asia until I returned to N. America.

??

Wonder if there is a link to the GMOs flooding our food chain, and the body reacting to it.

I'll bet there is a link.

reply to post by jude11


We hide. We have to be very careful because it destroys our organs, bit by bit. I would never eat anything from a place that handles any wheat at all. If you don't have a designated clean area for your gluten-free production, you are poisoning your customers. It's that serious. Liver transplants are required because of this stuff.

Wheat is in soy sauce. It's in Hoisin sauce. It's in practically everything. Even in corn chips, though it's not listed.

As soon as I get some wheat, I can feel it in me. Oddly enough, I feel it in my face, not my guts. How does that work, eh? Too much of it will block up my lymph system and I get edema. It weakens my vision. It causes joint pain. I know this because when I make absolutely certain I have had no wheat or other allergens, I gradually return to right. No pain at all. No edema, no sort of bloating and my vision is perfect.

I used to be a pastry chef. Studied in Paris but my grandmother, a good old-fashioned Louisiana farmhouse cook, taught me the real stuff. The French just refined it. Now I can't even breath air that has flour dust in it without getting a sinus infection. Allergies are no joke. You have to remove whatever allergens from your life because you will suffer for it.

I'm not saying to go around crying about it or to make a big production of it. Just know that it's not "just" an allergy. It can do real and lasting damage.

Excellent question OP , I have developed allergies in my early 40's....my Sister was the one with allergies from a young age....eventually I developed eczema in my late 20's and full blown allergies at 40....so may people I know are
developing allergies. Makes you wonder. Maybe our bodies are absorbing so much crap from external sources AND what we ingest , they just can't take anymore and are reacting.

Originally posted by amongus

Originally posted by jude11
Not sure about what else is out there but I can tell you that I have seen a rise in Celiacs (Gluten Allergy) in my bakery. So much so that we are considering full on gluten free baking and dropping everything else. We have a GF section that is growing faster than we can produce so something is up.

One other thing is that I had never heard of GF in Asia until I returned to N. America.

??

Wonder if there is a link to the GMOs flooding our food chain, and the body reacting to it.

I'll bet there is a link.

Maybe just a coincidence but I started hearing more and more about GF around the same time I started learning about Monsanto.

I have the same feeling you do.

Ah yes, allergies. Cause all of the above and then some.
It may not be dairy or wheat per se, but what is in them - chemicals in the feritlizers and bug sprays, plus whatever is added in the processing. Artificial vitamns are add to to wheat flour, you know.

And then there is MSG!!!
This can be the kicker to your problems.
MSG intolerance can begin with a sleepy feeling after lunch or supper.
For me it was those frozen oriental dinners with that tasty tub of Sauce. I ate the whole thing! And within the hour had a roaring headache. Never had headaches before. A day later I ate the other package that I had bought. And again got a roaring headache. This did arouse my suspician and I checked the label on the package -- sure enough - it contained MSG.

So I now knew that I had to avoid this stuff. However that was not the end of the problem. This massive dose of it did something to my system. From here on there was a cascade of reactions to more and more foods. It became any food that contained (natural or otherwise) histamine or citric acid. Next it was anything fermented, and all those single amino acids that you buy at the vitamin store. Then the vitamins. I learned that most of this stuff has some Free Glutamate in it by way of its processing. Vitamins and minerals can be amino acid chelated.

It got worse in 2009 when the FDA approved the use of Glutamate containing Plant Growth Regulators (fertilizers). It is used on all vegetables - even organic. The stuff is also a fungacide, so potato gowers use it.
Veggies that are too big and too pretty have surely been treated. They may also be GM. Recently I found some potatoes that looked blotchy - I bought them and I've been able to eat them with not problems. Also those that looked heavily spotted with pencil point size spots may be good. The little spots are a fungus and an indicator that the potatoes have not been treated with this suff.

FDA also approved the use of Citric acid in and on meats. Those soaker pads in those trays your meat is packaged in is permeated with citric acid.
Citric acid is a bactericide and an anti oxident. (but then so is formaldehyde).

For more info on MSG & Aspartame go to .www.truthinlabeling.org...

You can also consider that stuff that is being sprayed in our skies. Florida has been chemtrailed worse than I have ever seen in the last couple of months here.

The best is to seek to avoid that which is bothering you. You will have to do a severe elimination diet to find what is bothering you. Doctors have no fix for it. I have asked, an have gotten honest answers. They know about the MSG problem, but they say nothing for fear of being ridiculed.

I agree on the Genetically Modified Organism link. Recent but hard to find research indicates that GMO's have a direct link to bowel, skin, allergic, hormonal...you name it...problems. Hardly any organ in the body is not affected, and it seems allergies may be just the first warnings of even bigger problems. Much of the world has now firmly rejected GMO's, and it's time for America to get wise in spite of our corporate controlled press and government. What may be even worse is the farming methods recommended for use with GMO's, and the direction it is headed, but that's a long and sordid story. Suffice it to say that GMO plants (soaked in massive amounts of poisons to which they've been bred to be resistant)=sick natural vegetation=sick farm animals=sick people. The danger to our total ecosystem is unknown and disregarded. But the very people that develop and produce GMO's won't touch the stuff.

Europe holds the model for change. They required labeling, and the people simply stopped buying the stuff. Monsanto and BASF were forced out. While we may not have labeling here in the US, the Center for Food Safety is an organization dedicated to fighting this scourge, and they've put out a list of safe and unsafe food brands that is simple and straightforward. It's estimated that if as much as 5% of grocery shoppers stop buying the dangerous products, they will have to back off based solely on economics. So pass this list on!!!

Here's the list: GMO Food Safety List

I don't have any theories on causes other than in the winter, your house gets less ventilation such as closed windows etc. and the air can become very polluted inside. I can however give you a very simple remedy to many pollen and dander allergies...go to your local farmers market and buy a jar of local honey, yes it has to be local honey and take a nice tablespoon full. The bees use the pollen in your area to make honey. It's basically a natural vaccine against those airborne allergies, it also tastes a million times better than the grocery store stuff they call honey. Plus you can add a little lemon juice and that will knock out your sore throat.

I am glad you started this tread, I too have had an increase in allergies, used to I could expect something in the fall or summer, now is all year round. I have no proof, but imho it is genetically altered pollen. Or could be maybe I am just old.

I was in A&E a few years ago and I was given Magnesium and Potassium.

The magnesium was given because the Dr said (in front of me) everyone is deficient in it now. The main reason is because the soil has about 50% less now than in 1940s and is still going down (therefore not in the plants).

The other reason is because the modern diet has a lot of white sugar, white flour and rice. The whole grains has the magnesium in and this is removed in the refining process. Also white sugar needs magnesium so it can be processed by the body, to remove the sugar from the body.
SO a double whammy.
Alcoholics are notoriously deficient in magnesium.

Couple that with the chemtrails the plants are having trouble with the barium and so are we, causing a deficiency in potassium. You need potassium citrate to
Stress leads to inflammation too, which is basically modern life.

So if you are still healthy, make sure you eat nuts and seeds and whole grain organic foods, if you can grow yourself than that is better.
I now have adrenal problems, so I can't do much, so I take supplements and try to keep stress levels down.

My asthma nurse says magnesium is now recommended for asthmatics, as it inhibits the inflammation symptoms.
(I used to have asthma)
But I do not take asthma medication now, as I spray my magnesium on, in an oil, it's called Magnesium oil.

So stress + refined diet + poor soil + genetics = inflammation. Needing magnesium.

But a deficiency in Vitamin D, calcium or zinc, you will have a magnesium deficiency too. So you will need to increase those too.

Peace.

I was in A&E a few years ago and I was given Magnesium and Potassium.

The magnesium was given because the Dr said (in front of me) everyone is deficient in it now. The main reason is because the soil has about 50% less now than in 1940s and is still going down (therefore not in the plants).

The other reason is because the modern diet has a lot of white sugar, white flour and rice. The whole grains has the magnesium in and this is removed in the refining process. Also white sugar needs magnesium so it can be processed by the body, to remove the sugar from the body.
SO a double whammy.
Alcoholics are notoriously deficient in magnesium.

Couple that with the chemtrails the plants are having trouble with the barium and so are we, causing a deficiency in potassium. You need potassium citrate to
Stress leads to inflammation too, which is basically modern life.

So if you are still healthy, make sure you eat nuts and seeds and whole grain organic foods, if you can grow yourself than that is better.
I now have adrenal problems, so I can't do much, so I take supplements and try to keep stress levels down.

My asthma nurse says magnesium is now recommended for asthmatics, as it inhibits the inflammation symptoms.
(I used to have asthma)
But I do not take asthma medication now, as I spray my magnesium on, in an oil, it's called Magnesium oil.

So stress + refined diet + poor soil + genetics = inflammation. Needing magnesium.

But a deficiency in Vitamin D, calcium or zinc, you will have a magnesium deficiency too. So you will need to increase those too.

Peace.

This is a very interesting talk given by a former food business analyst. Well worth the full 18 minutes. She did a lot of research and pretty convincingly shows that as genetically modified proteins are added to our food (milk, corn, etc) that allergies increase many fold.

reply to post by UberL33t


Yeah I have not looked into chemtrails much, but can't rule it out. I mean, it is one thing to find out that you have allergies in the springtime or even summer when there are many more contaminants in the air... but the winter? And such a large population of people, at least that I know, that develop them THIS YEAR by chance? Odd.

Haha also, I do live next to a military base... hmm