Allergy deaths.

[Workingman]

They appear to be on the rise and nobody seems to know why or what to do about them.

I am very lucky in that I do not appear to fatally allergic to anything, well not anything so far. Yet when I am out and about or at gatherings I often hear "I can't have that because I am allergic" and the call comes from so many people about so many different things - and not just food.

It must be a nightmare for sufferers, but also for suppliers / makers of just about anything.

It is now beginning to look as though everything is going to come with a catch all "May contain allergens" warning - everything. But that is not going to solve the problem, is it? Nor is saying that those with allergies need to "look after themselves", that's just a cop-out.

It looks as though a lot of research is going to have to be done into the hows and whys of the fatal allergy increase. The problem is not going away and could be getting worse.

[Kaz]

I'm seriously allergic to seafood and strawberries - swollen lips, tight throat, racing pulse. Had a lesser reaction to nuts once, and pork makes me itch. I have never had an anaphylactic reaction, so never been prescribed an epipen, but eating out makes me nervous - I tend to stick to plain food, and totally avoid Indian and Chinese as I just can't trust them.

My heart goes out to the families of these children, I can't imagine how scary it must be, not knowing if your child might react at any time Companies must be more honest in their labelling, so people can trust it, but after that it is caveat emptor

[Ally]

When I was on my flight home last month the pilot put out a call asking that if anyone had bought nuts to eat on the plane could they please not even open them such was the allergy a passenger had to them.

It must be scary.

[Kaz]

We had the same on the flight to Lanzarote in March. I think it would be sensible to ban nuts on planes. After all it's only for a few hours, and on a plane there is nowhere to escape to if someone opens a pack of nuts

[TheOstrich]

I suppose the problem with the airplanes is that it's a sort recycling air system? I'd agree, Kaz, a blanket ban might be for the best …..

It looks as though a lot of research is going to have to be done into the hows and whys of the fatal allergy increase. The problem is not going away and could be getting worse.

Just wondering, has much research been done on this so far? Are we any closer to knowing why allergies occur?

[Workingman]

WRT aircraft they are an almost unique environment, and not just for allergens, so the airlines have no choice but to take action - duty of care and all that.

Ossie, I did take a look. I found a lot of stuff on allergies, allergens, the most likely culprits, the reactions to them and those kinds of things. What I did not find was anything definitive about why we become allergic to some things or the different levels we all have to them. Take 1000 people allergic to 'A' and you get everything from an itch to full-on anaphylactic shock. There is quite a bit of speculation of genetic or environmental influences, and some great debates around 'a bit of muck won't hurt you' and children playing with (and eating) soil, but nothing to pin any one thing down.

I can see a great new revenue stream coming on for pharma research as more of us become susceptible to allergies.

[Kaz]

I was told by the hospital when I was tested that it's an overreaction of the immune system, reacting to something harmless as though it was a threat. Interestingly, psoriasis is also an overreaction of the immune system.

[Workingman]

Yes, that is a line of thought for some reactions such as eczema/psoriasis, celiac, hives etc but not for everything. Another line is that we are still evolving into the modern age and all its 'new' things and that our bodies have not yet caught up.

Traditional allergies tended to be towards natural things such as dairy, fish / shellfish, insect bites / stings, pollen, nuts and legumes, but we are now seeing them from man made products such as perfumes, cleaning chemicals, fresheners and the likes.

It's an interesting subject and a little bit frightening at the same time.

[meriad]

Call me pessimist but I very firmly believe all our messing around with foods - all this GM stuff is a big contributor to allergies. If we'd just left things as they are then I honestly don't think the allergies would be as severe / prevalent. But all this chemical messing around is causing havoc with nature and us

[Workingman]

A poster on the BBC asked whether the chemistry set ingredients now found in processed foods to make them 'healthier' had anything to do with it? You know the sort of stuf: 'low fat' but bulked out with things we would not normally eat; 'no added sugar' or 'Diet' sugar replaced with aspartame, acesulfame-k and phenylalanine; and using the term sodium instead of 'salt' to make it look as though you are getting less.

It does make you wonder.