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Comment by rubicon33 | Hacker News Reader

I love studies like this. I believe that as science progresses, we're going to see a lot more conclusions like this that previously "benign" things were actually causing problems, or setting the body up for later issues, we just didn't know it.

Toxo is a perfect example. Chicken pocks is another. HPV a third.

Personally I believe "alergies" are actually the result of a viral infection probably from the common cold, that sets off a long term hyper reaction to airborn particles and pathogens. So things like pollen in the air sets off a huge response whereas for some people who never were infected with the virus, they don't get "alergies".

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Those are great examples!

However, I’m not sure I agree with that allergy hypothesis. The histamine reaction is associated with IgE. This immunoglobulin is associated with parasitic response. A lack of childhood exposure actually higher correlates with higher incidence of allergies and asthma. The theory that has developed from this is that lack of stimulation leads to hyper reaction later when exposed to allergens.

This is all posited by the “hygiene hypothesis”: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene_hypothesis

There is a lot of supporting evidence to go along with it. As well as studies inspecting the impact of gut micro biome.

I suppose this is why I never listened to doctors recommending avoiding peanuts until age 3 or later. It seemed not to make sense. Turns out following that advice created a generation of peanut allergy sufferers!

Many opinions by supposed experts turn out later to be completely wrong. Trusting your own experience is usually wise.

You were a smart two year old!

So why do you trust the studies now? Because they agree with what you think?

Have you looked at the one that's been quoted most often? Because they've very very specific to a population of jewish kids in England and Israel.

And the loads of people who have been infected with the common cold, the flu, and other viruses and never develop any allergies? Are you saying you think this only affects a subset of people? Out of curiosity, what lead you to this conclusion?

Personally I've had countless colds and even the flu a few times, and no allergies. In fact, most people I know get a few colds every year and have no allergies. Actually, basically everybody I've ever met has had the common cold at some point. Maybe it's responsible for everything.

What evidence do you have to back that assertion? Do you speak from a position of expertise?

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