Peanut 'allergies' - what causes this in your opinion?

[skanji]

Folks, firstly, no baby yet - due date is April 17th and the wait continues...

Looking into this peanut 'allergy' thing. Having lived with a sibling who has a servere reaction to peanuts, i don't like calling it an allergy. Allergies are what happens when you get the freakin' sniffles or hives...but it ain't when you are seconds away from dying. *rant over*

What are your beliefs on this? Have any of you researched this at all? For our entire pregnancy, my wife has stayed away from peanuts or peanut related products. This will continue over the first year during breastfeeding.

Any thoughts on this? How many of your kids have peanut allergies?

[Simo]

if your wife doesnt eat peanuts your kid might not develop an immunity to peanuts, i dont know just a theory

[skanji]

if your wife doesnt eat peanuts your kid might not develop an immunity to peanuts, i dont know just a theory

great point. the reason why we are envoking this gameplan is my mom used to eat quite a bit of peanuts when my brother was born...

but it is a good point...

[DJXP]

my mom used to have a lot of peanut butter... and yep im allergic

[crikey]

Folks, firstly, no baby yet - due date is April 17th and the wait continues...

Looking into this peanut 'allergy' thing. Having lived with a sibling who has a servere reaction to peanuts, i don't like calling it an allergy. Allergies are what happens when you get the freakin' sniffles or hives...but it ain't when you are seconds away from dying. *rant over*

What are your beliefs on this? Have any of you researched this at all? For our entire pregnancy, my wife has stayed away from peanuts or peanut related products. This will continue over the first year during breastfeeding.

Any thoughts on this? How many of your kids have peanut allergies?

Peanut Allergy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut_allergy) is considered an allergy because allergies are hypersensitivities to certain substances. My son has severe peanut allergy. I love peanut butter -- on bread, chocolate, ice cream, anything. I'm not certain of the correlation between the parent eating substantial amounts of it and the offspring being allergic to it, but your experiences tell me that it may be more than coincidental. If you're really concerned about it, have the child properly tested for food allergies. I had my son tested when he got welts on his cheek after I kissed him goodbye one day. Yup, I ate a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast on that day. My son also has mild eczema and mild asthma, which are considered symptoms of a peanut allergy. He has an Epipen both at school and at home.

I'm not sure if he will ever outgrow it.

[sfu_lifer]

so overexposure to peanuts causes this? I always thought it was a genetic predisposition (unless peanuts can cause mutations of that deficient gene...)

[skanji]

so overexposure to peanuts causes this? I always thought it was a genetic predisposition (unless peanuts can cause mutations of that deficient gene...)

it very well may be, but I doubt it.

our families are originally from east africa and prior to that, india. There is **no** peanut allergies in those parts of the world.

in my personal opinion, i believe that there is something in the enviornment or the food we eat in north america/uk that causes this....there's no other explanation....

[crikey]

so overexposure to peanuts causes this? I always thought it was a genetic predisposition (unless peanuts can cause mutations of that deficient gene...)

It's hard to say but it seems that most of the folks that posted have a similar pattern of having the parent being overexposed to peanuts and the offspring being allergic to it. Oh yeah, I ate a lot of peanuts also, those ones that you can get at Costco. Sadly, I do not buy them anymore and I rarely enjoy a peanut butter sandwich. sigh. :(

[Hubster]

I have two kids allergic to peanuts and their Mother has always hated peanuts in any form, so therefore she never ate any - before, during or after pregnancy.

The younger kid is mildly allergic and the older is rather severe - it is quite possible she would go into anaphalaxis shock (http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/anaphylaxis-1) just by coming into contact with something that had been in even indirect contact with peanuts or any of it's many deriatives.

The younger is also severly allergic to all milk products which are almost impossible to ignore in daily food requirements. Our cupboards and fridge probably look fairly boring and odd to most folks, but obviously we always take the safe route.

It should also be noted that Mom is not a milk lover either. She attempted to drink one glass a day during her pregnancy with the youngest, per doctor's orders, but it made her sick just on contact during that time.

We nor the schools are ever without an epi-pen. My family tree is also full of eczema and asthma and indeed, these are often closely associated with known allergies.

Not sure that sheds any light, just a personal situation.

Hubster

[ghostryder]

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/peanut-allergy/DS00710/DSECTION=4

[sdm242]

so overexposure to peanuts causes this? I always thought it was a genetic predisposition (unless peanuts can cause mutations of that deficient gene...)

I ate lots of peanut butter during both of my pregnancies and neither of my children have peanut (or any other kind of) allergies.

[lkn4deals]

PESTICIDES?

People may be allergic to the pesticides used to grow the peanuts rather then the peanuts themselves, also the use of chemicals such as pesticides can decrease the immune system.

In addition, the nature of the peanut plant (the actual shelled peanuts are in the soil) and the deep roots of the plant, may make it more likely that pesticides will be picked up by the roots or the peanuts themselves.

Personally, I only eat organic peanut butter, or almond butter.

[Bullseye]

My wife ate peanut butter through pregnancy and breastfeeding, and my almost-two-year-old son has been eating it since just before he turned one. No problems at all here, he loves it and it's an easy and nutritious meal ingredient.

[bionicbadger]

I read that starting solid foods before 6 months increases chances of food allergies.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,206158,00.html

Also see here:
http://www.webmd.com/allergies/guide/20061101/childrens-peanut-allergies-have-doubled

[volan]

I have a littlebit more of a radical view on the increase of allergies among children. I do not think that the amount of peanuts eaten has anything to do with whether your child will have a peanut allergy.

When I was a child I had never heard of peanut allergy, nor did I know too many kids with asthma and the like. Now I know of many children with allergies, especially to peanuts and children with asthma.

My radical thoughts are that it's the hormones and pesticides in our food that makes our children get these ailments.

[getmail99]

Of course not food, Chinese use peanut oil to cook for so many years, yet Chinese are low in peanut allergy.

I don't want to bring this up again but it is the peanut oil in vaccine. Check it out yourself, you can get some hint from the vaccine thread. I don't want to involve in this kind of thread any more.

There is a research about the baby cream using peanut oil, this research is a joke, I think. Can you find baby oil now with peanut oil? I think that they selectively found their research subjects. The drug companies blame the peanut oil cream instead of peanut oil in vaccine. Again, look up this research yourself.

find it here
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12637607&dopt=Abstract

[aidzhsiah]

The one theory I think is most likely is that the incidence of allergies coincides with our use of antibiotics. That it screws with our immune system to the point where our bodies reject hyperactively in classifying certain things as 'foreign' substances. The reason why so many allergies in Western society is their practice to use antibiotics in their livestock which is in the meat we eat.

Other theories include use of household chemicals and chemicals in processed food. I've also heard theories about being things being too clean which deprives the immune system a chance to 'learn' how to fight.

One family friend who's a nutritionist, also said that many allergies are due to parents being overzealous in introducing foods to a child before their body can readily process it. She said there's studies that shown children who are breastfed past 18 months without other foods are less prone to allergies than those who are weaned off early.

[don242]

I think there is some genetic relation to some cases. If there is a history of food allergies in the family then you may be more prone to have the same. However that doesn't explain all cases definately.

Breastfeeding as long as possible is proven to reduce the likelihood of having food allergies.

Other factors may also be in play since peanut allegies are becoming more prevalent. It could be some of the reasons already mentioned about the over concern for sterility in our lives not giving the immune system proper training when a child is young. Chemicals on food, in food also are effecting our bodies. The chemicals found in a child's body now are a different than the chemicals found in children's bodies 20 years ago and different from a 100 years ago. Who knows how much these come into play?

[Flame_lily]

I don't have references right now but there are studies suggesting the exclusive breastfeeding during the first 4-6 months decreases incidence of allergies. Now that's not an easy message to preach especially in the West where breastfeeding is purely optional. As a student I was involved in breast feeding education & support for new mothers. I was exclusively breastfed, so were my kids 2 kids (no allergies here). My sister wasn't & her son wasn't; both have allergies. (very small sample size I know). More kids in 'developing countries' are also more likely to be breastfed & allergies in general have a lower incidence. This may be one part of the puzzle...

[shemico]

Folks, firstly, no baby yet - due date is April 17th and the wait continues...

Looking into this peanut 'allergy' thing. Having lived with a sibling who has a servere reaction to peanuts, i don't like calling it an allergy. Allergies are what happens when you get the freakin' sniffles or hives...but it ain't when you are seconds away from dying. *rant over*

What are your beliefs on this? Have any of you researched this at all? For our entire pregnancy, my wife has stayed away from peanuts or peanut related products. This will continue over the first year during breastfeeding.

Any thoughts on this? How many of your kids have peanut allergies?

What I read and had confirmed by my dr. was that if you have a predisposition for nut allergies you should avoid all nuts during pregnancy and while breast feeding.

I developed a tree nut allergy (all nuts but peanuts) and a sensitivity to peanuts (i can eat them but i did react slightly on an alergy test) when I was 19. My mother also developed a nut allergy in her 40s.

And... my mothers says she had a real thing for candied nuts while pregnant with me.