Eideard

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Dog lovers with a pet allergy have a big problem when it comes to having a dog in the home. But the usual solution — getting a breed known to be hypoallergenic — may not be a safe bet. In fact, there may be no such thing as a low-allergy or allergy-free dog, according to a new report. The study found that the quantities of dog allergens in homes with supposedly hypoallergenic breeds are no different from those in homes with dogs widely considered non-hypoallergenic.

It is not even clear how a hypoallergenic breed earns the title. There is no single “official” list of them. Various breeds, often dogs that shed little hair, appear on lists posted on the Internet, and the American Kennel Club suggests 11 “hypoallergenic canine candidates,” including poodles, soft-coated wheaten terriers, schnauzers and the Portuguese water dog, made famous two years ago when the Obama family adopted one.

“I have no idea where this whole concept came from,” said Christine Cole Johnson, the senior author of the study, to be published online in The American Journal of Rhinology and Allergy. “It’s been around for a long time, and maybe people associated it with shedding. I think it’s just a legend…”

The numbers of dogs of each breed were not large enough to allow for analyses by individual breed, but the researchers compared quantities of allergens found in the samples using various categories of purebred and mixed-breed hypoallergenic and non-hypoallergenic dogs. No matter how they did the comparisons — even comparing dogs identified as hypoallergenic by the A.K.C. against all other dogs — they found no statistically significant differences in levels of the major dog allergen, Canis familiaris 1…

Dr. Cole, an epidemiologist at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, said: “You can’t be assured that some breed is going to produce less allergen than another. Allergists, based on their experience, really think that it’s just individual dogs who have some variations based on genetics or behavior, who produce more allergens than others. But it’s not going to be a breed classification that predicts that.”

In our family, let’s face it, it’s the dog that makes the decision who gets adopted. Give us the right tail-wagging and “let’s go play outside together” look — we’re already locked in.

For most travelers, peanuts are a favorite snack: tasty, easily portable, and nutritious to boot. But for a growing portion of the population suffering from nut allergies, peanuts represent a potentially deadly threat – especially within the confines of an airplane. For some sufferers with a particularly strong allergy, even inhaling peanut particles in the air can trigger a mild allergic reaction.

Should peanuts be banned from airlines altogether? That’s the center of this ongoing debate, which came to a head last summer when the Department of Transportation proposed a series of measures to protect allergic sufferers from peanuts on planes. While the DOT stated that it would not take any action until a comprehensive, peer-reviewed study on the dangers of peanuts on planes was released, the proposed measures include a complete peanut ban or a “peanut-free” buffer zone around any allergic travelers…

The suggestions came as a surprise to the peanut industry, says Patrick Archer, President of the American Peanut Council. According to Archer, only two carriers still distribute peanuts to passengers, and those that do already have policies in place to make sure that allergic passengers can notify the airline ahead of time.

In addition, Archer said, peanuts were the only food targeted by the DOT. “If they are going to put out regulations on food allergens, we think it should be comprehensive, taking into account all food allergens,” Archer pointed out…

“We have smaller families, do not live on farms, use many treatments to prevent or treat infection,” pediatrician Scott Schirer said. “The thought is that our immune system is ‘looking for something to attack,’ and may erroneously attack harmless foods, pollens, animal danders and the like…”

“If you want to ban peanuts on airplanes, you still would not be able to effectively enforce that regulation, since people often bring their own snacks on board,” Archer said. “A ban might create a false sense of security for allergy sufferers.” According to Archer, the existing policies aimed towards educating passengers about the risk of peanuts for allergic sufferers suffice without any further legislation.

The only folks I know offhand with dangerous allergies are the two classic: bee stings and shellfish. Those folks are bright enough to examine their surroundings, what food they get near and, in the case of bee stings, carry an injectable remedy.

The rest of us probably should continue to have access to peanuts. It’s part of the Southwest Airlines mystique.

Allergies have become a widespread in developed countries: hay fever, eczema, hives and asthma are all increasingly prevalent. The reason? Excessive cleanliness is to blame according to Dr. Guy Delespesse, a professor at the Université de Montréal Faculty of Medicine…

“There is an inverse relationship between the level of hygiene and the incidence of allergies and autoimmune diseases,” says Dr. Delespesse. “The more sterile the environment a child lives in, the higher the risk he or she will develop allergies or an immune problem in their lifetime.”

In 1980, 10 percent of the Western population suffered from allergies. Today, it is 30 percent. In 2010, one out of 10 children is said to be asthmatic and the mortality rate resulting from this affliction increased 28 percent between 1980 and 1994.

“It’s not just the prevalence but the gravity of the cases,” says Dr. Delespesse. “Regions in which the sanitary conditions have remained stable have also maintained a constant level of allergies and inflammatory diseases…”

Why does this happen? “The bacteria in our digestive system are essential to digestion and also serve to educate our immune system. They teach it how to react to strange substances. This remains a key in the development of a child’s immune system.”

Although hygiene does reduce our exposure to harmful bacteria it also limits our exposure to beneficial microorganisms. As a result, the bacterial flora of our digestive system isn’t as rich and diversified as it used to be.

My grandma always said kids should eat a pound of dirt, every week. Or something like that.