Is there anyone without allergies?
The front-runner among allergies is hay fever - about every fifth German is affected. In second place is the house dust mite allergy (one in ten). Especially children are often affected by eczema (every fifth to tenth). Less common are allergies to insect venom (every twentieth), to food (every twentieth to fiftieth) and to medicines (every fiftieth).
Why has the number of allergies increased so much? According to the current state of science, the improved hygiene conditions and the increased respirable air pollution of respiratory air are mainly responsible for this. An overview of the reasons can be found here:
Why are there more and more people allergic?
- Too much hygiene
- The immune system will be "under-challenged" in the long run if the environment is too sterile. Children who play outdoors a lot and come into contact with dirt and animals rarely develop allergies. The same applies to children who come to kindergarten early and come into contact with various viruses and bacteria. They develop more protective antibodies.
- Overwork of the immune system
- Today, we come into contact with many more foreign substances than our grandparents, for example through food additives or exotic fruits. The immune system is overwhelmed, especially if it was not burdened during childhood (see point 1). The immune system does not recognize these substances as harmless to the body and defends itself against it.
- Higher load due to fine dust
- Pollen seems to put a heavier burden on the immune system when flying around busy roads. There they are bound to dust particles from diesel soot. The responsible for the allergic reaction substances (the so-called allergens) occur more to the surface of the pollen.
- climate change
- Global warming has intensified and prolonged the pollen season. In addition, there are now plants with us, which were otherwise found only further south, such as the ragweed (ragweed) that is considered a strong allergy trigger.
Is it possible to do anything to prevent allergies?
Expectant mothers have various options to at least reduce the risk of allergies in their children:
- Pregnant women should not smoke and avoid smoke-filled rooms.
- Mothers should breastfeed for at least four months.
- If the mother or father is allergic or if the child already has atopic dermatitis, it may make sense to feed hydrolysed milk instead of cow's milk as of the fourth month of life, as well as to avoid frequent allergy triggers such as fish, peanuts and chicken eggs. In this "hypo-allergenic" milk, the starting protein (eg cow's milk casein) is partially cleaved and the antigen content is reduced to minimal traces.
Expert advice: Prof. Kristian Reich and Dr. med. Antonie Roll, Dermatologist Hamburg.
