How Should Parents Handle Childhood Allergies?

The battle has been raging for years and if you are a parent it can all be more than overwhelming when trying to figure out what the right course of action is when making decisions on how to handle allergies with their children. The fact of the matter is that the battle lines have been shifting back and forth in the last couple of years as so-called experts keep bringing forth evidence that keeps changing the commonly accepted understanding of what causes allergies and how to deal with them.

With this being the case, the fight over what to believe has only become more intense as people on all sides dig in and create more and more arguments to back up their stance and attempt to influence the public regarding their views. So, the questions we want to answer here is which side has made the case to back up their arguments and whether or not this issue will ever be settled once and for all.

Understanding Allergies

Before anyone can make a determination about what to think about allergies and how to deal with them it would be beneficial to know just what allergies really are. To do that it will take a little bit of a dive into the science and biology that is a critical part of all of that.

In essence, an allergy is a biological reaction to a wide variety of ailments that ends up being a significant over-reaction. This means that the body detects a substance that it believes to be an invader and rallies the immune system to combat it. But, for reasons that are often hard to determine, the reaction of the immune system ends up being more than is required. The result of this is an overload in the response that produces something called anaphylactic shock. The danger in this is that it can cause everything from minor swelling and itching to life threatening issues that can ultimately lead to drastic injuries or even death.

The Problem Is Only Getting Worse

There is no doubt about it, study after study has proven that the instances of allergies are on the rise and have been for a long time. For instance, allergic reactions to shellfish are up as much as seven percent, there has been an eighteen percent increase in allergic reactions from tree nuts and the cases of allergic reactions from peanuts, in particular, are up as much as twenty-one percent.

Even though there is a great amount of debate as to why this is happening the primary focus is often on the theory which is widely known as the hygiene hypothesis. For those who may not be familiar with this theory the basic foundation for it is the thought that, as we as a species become more and more health conscious, the more and more we become separated from our natural surroundings and, in our pursuit of cleanliness, separate ourselves from many of the germs and bacteria that surround us in our everyday lives.

It is believed that this reduction in contact with these other organisms prevents us from building up a natural immunity to their dangers. On the surface, this explanation makes a lot of sense as it seems obvious that not being able to build up an immunity to all kinds of microscopic creatures would lead to this very problem.

The Timing Around Immunity

One of the most contentious issues surrounding this subject centers on when to begin exposing children to potential allergens. Some believe, based on a growing amount of research, that children as young as four to six months of age should be given peanuts as the statistics show that up to eighty percent of children in this age bracket will not experience any allergic reactions when given this kind of exposure.

The Allergy Parent Trap

It can definitely be a scary proposition for parents to figure out how to proceed when it comes to introducing their children to potential allergens. Still, all of the evidence suggests that exposing children to these potential harms at an early age is the best course of action. Still, since the consequences can be significant it is always advisable to consult with an allergist before determining how to proceed.