Allergies on the rise and how hygiene may be to blame

Research indicates that the prevalence of allergies are on the rise across the country and in developing nations. The question many scientists and physicians are grappling with is why? According to UCLA School of Medicine, "the occurrence of allergic disease is skyrocketing, and some estimates are that as many as one-in-five Americans have an allergic condition."

The reason for this skyrocket? It seems almost counter-intuitive that developed nations should have this issue, living in some of the cleanest, healthiest environments in the world. Scientists believe that may be the exact issue. According to the Hygiene Hypothesis, our excessive cleaning, as a now hygienic society, compared to even  100 years ago, has "interrupted the normal development of the immune system." This change correlates to a sensitivity to and increase in  allergies.

A recent study by a group of Swedish physician-scientists exemplifies how our hygienic philosophy may be altering our molecular reaction to the outside world. In this report, children ages 7-8 were asked questions from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire in conjunction with whether or not their families washed dishes by hand or with a dishwasher. According to the study, "Microbial exposure during early life may prevent, or reduce, the risk of allergy development." As a result, the study revealed that hand washing dishes correlated with a lower risk of allergic disease development. In low doses, it seems, when the body is still quite young and malleable, microbes may be a good thing and perhaps something to consider for your children. 

Important to note is that this theory and correlative paper only encompass children from the ages of 7-8. For those who fall outside that age range, Allergy Be Gone has allergy control products that help combat the harmful effects of the outside world. Allen Barsano, an allergy sufferer himself, founded Allergy Be Gone to aid those affected by allergies as well.