Where you live, how you were born, and how stressed you are can all affect your allergies.
Those who suffer from fall allergies know they’re here. They’re sneezing as you read this, at least in some places. Yes, the real fall season isn’t here yet, but the pollen associated with it, like ragweed pollen, is already blowing in the wind and causing itchy throats, runny noses, congestion, itchy eyes, and more.
Unfortunately, seasonal allergies are a huge nuisance. And food allergies are even worse. How about telling you something you didn’t know?
Check out these five less-commonly-talked-about allergy facts, and have more to chat about at the dinner table.
Stress affects them
According to a Japanese study done at Osaka City University, your stress hormones can make your allergy symptoms worse. Your psychological state matters. Apparently, it can affect the level of mucus in your nose. Yuck! It all has something to do with the relationship between your corticotropin-releasing stress hormone and the degranulation of your mast cells. Sound cryptic? Read more here.
Your baby’s first poo matters
When babies have their first bowel movement it consists of black sticky stuff called meconium. Scientists from the University of British Columbia (UBC) have discovered that newborns who have meconium less rich in molecular diversity are more likely to develop allergic sensitivities in their first year. Who knew!
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“This work shows that the development of a healthy immune system and microbiota may actually start well before a child is born,” said Dr. Charisse Petersen, a researcher with UBC’s department of pediatrics. “(It) signals that the tiny molecules an infant is exposed to in the womb play a fundamental role in future health.”
How your baby was born can also matter
Not only does your baby’s first bowel movement come into play, but also how they came into this world. Experts say babies born by c-section are more likely to have low intestinal microbiota and a peanut allergy.
City kids have it harder than country kids
Research has also shown where you live matters. Researchers at Northwestern University mapped children’s food allergies by geographic location throughout the US. It was found that kids in big cities were more than twice as likely to suffer from shellfish and peanut allergies compared with kids in the countryside.
Is this due to the realities of city living? It’s uncertain but experts say something present in urban centers could be triggering food allergies. About 9.8% of kids in cities have food allergies in the US and just 6.2% of kids living in rural settings have them. The severity of food allergies was the same in both areas, however.
Who has been hit hardest? The states with the highest levels of food allergies include Alaska, Delaware, Florida, and Georgia. The District of Columbia, Maryland, Nevada, and New Jersey are also on the list.
How late your kid stays up is related
For some strange reason, how late you go to sleep also counts. Allergies and asthma are more prevalent in teenagers who stay up late. You might be asking, what teen doesn’t stay up late, but let’s take a look.
The sleep hormone melatonin is known to scientists for its influence on asthma. In a study done by researchers at the University of Alberta, it was found teens who prefer going to sleep late are about three times as likely to have asthma.
“Our results suggest there’s a link between preferred sleep time, and asthma and allergies in teenagers,” said Dr. Subhabrata Moitra from the U of A.
“We can’t be certain that staying up late is causing asthma, but we know that the sleep hormone melatonin is often out of sync in late-sleepers and that could, in turn, be influencing teenagers’ allergic response,” Dr. Moitra added.
For more information on allergies and how to deal with them click here.
photo credits: Iakov Filimonov/Shutterstock.com
