The Allergy Epidemic

[Chaerophon]

I'm exactly the opposite of you Kandrathe. I used to have horrendous allergies when I was a child - particularly to ingesting raw egg (which they feared would put me into anaphylactic shock and landed me in the hospital twice - once over christmas at age 5:(), but also to bacterial culture (cheese, yogurt, etc.), some yeasts (donuts, pizza crust, root beer...), vinegar, citrus fruits, rice, corn, cooked egg (minor), strawberries, pet dander (had a dog and cat anyways), and the usual hayfever stuff. Especially during my teen years, I wasn't very good about not eating what I wasn't supposed to. However, long story short: today I have very few allergies - not even hayfever/grass/cottonwood, etc. My wife, on the other hand, has developed terrible pet allergies and hayfever. And she used to make fun of me for being "fragile"!:P

I have heard it suggested that exposure to certain foods at a young age can trigger the allergic response in later life, ie giving your child eggs early may increase their chances of being allergic at a later date.