It seems somewhat obvious
to our family that allergies are being shared and passed on. What seems confusing is why we all have such
different allergies. And why can I not
find more specific info about the whys?
From everything that I have read, allergies tend to run in
families and can be passed down to children from generation to generation. People who tend to suffer with chronic
allergies are usually referred to as “atopic allergy” sufferers. Atopics have
an underlying tendency to allergic reactions and may be encoded in the DNA that
are passed from parent to child. The genetic risks from two parents can add up
but the actual figures are uncertain because the results have varied from study
to study. If one parent is atopic, then there is a 20-58 percent chance a child
will be also, whereas if both parents are atopic, then the chance grows to
50-80 percent. 7% of fraternal twins and
two-thirds of identical twins share peanut allergy. . Unfortunately, allergies seem to be on the
increase even though we carry the genetic allergy makeup of our ancestors.
Genes are about two-thirds of the problem with our environment
playing an important role in allergies. Environmental conditions such as diet,
smoke, air pollutants, pollen, dust mites, mold and other allergens determine
whether or not an allergic reaction occurs. Allergens in our indoor and outdoor
continue to increase thus causing more allergic reactions even in those
individuals with little or no allergies the previous year.
We can control some of
the indoor environment by eliminate certain allergens from our home such as
smoke, dust mites, insects and so on. What
about the outdoors? There’s only so much
we can do but we do need to try.
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