I admit that I am skeptical about the prevalence of peanut allergies. Several generations of us grew up with peanuts and peanut butter as a part of our daily lives and no one I have talked to recalls a problem before the 1980’s. I am prepared to be educated. However, how come peanut allergies are often lumped into a general nut allergy if peanuts are legumes and not even nuts?
I’ve wondered about the prevalence of peanut and nut allergies recently, too. It didn’t seem common until sometime after 1945. I think maybe those folks with nut allergies are really aliens, so I blame Roswell, NM… (Yes, I’m kidding…)
Huh? You’re prepared to be educated about peanut allergies if only someone can explain why several allergies often occur at the same time? What the hell is the question?
My youngest had “peanut and tree nut” allergies because (wait for it) he was allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. See how easy that was?
They aren’t the same thing, but they often occur at the same time. Tree nut allergies are more likely to be outgrown while peanut allergies are less, in our experience.
Whether or not you believe in them is immaterial, as we have these new-fangled doctor fella’s (perhaps you’ve heard of them, check at a “hospital” if you want to see one) that can demonstrate allergies. These tests are scientifically reproducible and not dependent on gullibility or skepticism.
Modern medicine saved the lives of people with severe peanut allegies so that they survived to reproduce and pass on their allergies. That’s the theory I figure explains it, anyway. Allergies are hereditary and, I believe, the severity is worse with each child for some reason.
I’m in my early 40’s. My best friend growing up was very allergic to peanuts, wall nuts and sesame seeds. As an adult, he can eat peanuts and wall nuts but sesame seeds still make him puke for hours.
Just because you never heard of it doesn’t make it not real.
I don’t doubt your child had both of them. The question is why they are grouped together. There are “Nut free zones” here in Massachusetts and elsewhere.
The questions are:
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Why are peanuts grouped with nuts when they are not nuts? If they are independent as you say, why should they ever be mentioned in the same sentence to the general public? Why not peanut and cat-free zone for example?
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The second question is more skeptical. Why didn’t you ever hear of a peanut allergy in older people. I have no doubt that it occurred but no one of my (youngish) generation of before ever heard of it being a death threat. Some people take peanuts as strong a threat as an armed gunman and some schools here in Massachusetts (Andover for example) take great care to make sure these incendiary devices are not introduced into the general population.
Note: I am not saying it isn’t real for any child. It certainly can be but maybe there is another interesting question about what is causing it. There are ideas that our over-clean environments are causing some people’s immune systems to go psycho on regular substances. That is often what an allergic reaction is.
I’m 45 years old and very allergic to peanuts. For me, Snicker’s Bar = early dirt nap. I’m also allergic to all other nuts except almonds and walnuts. Also, I have a first cousin on my father’s side who is a few years older than I am who exhibits the exact same pattern. If that doesn’t strongly suggest a hereditary component, I don’t know what does. I would tend to favor the natural selection hypothesis already mentioned—namely, that prior to WWII, people with peanut allergies had a very high chance of dying at an early age and therefore never passed on their genetic material.
Sources vary, 30%-60% of children with peanut allergies also have allergies to certain tree nuts and frequently (I don’t have the numbers) other allergies as well.
Have you asked? I know several people in their 30’s with peanut allergies. They learned as a kid to avoid the things and don’t make a big deal of it since they’ve lived with it their whole life. Know anyone who regularly refuses offers of chocolate? Could be because they don’t want their mouth to swell up. Not every allergy is life threatening - I’m allergic to walnuts, but still eat the things because to me they taste spicy, and I like spicy food. Too many make my lungs itch, so I just don’t eat them very often - not a big deal.
I’ve also heard this same theory to explain this, and also to explain the increase of other conditions (such as childhood diabetes) that might otherwise have claimed young lives before the genetic trait could be passed on.
Having grown up on PB&J, I’ll admit that I was once a bit curious how this could be such a source of concern. Then, several years ago, I read an article in the New York Times Magazine. The author interviewed a mother who said something like “I know that everyone thinks that I am hypervigilant, but all you need is to spend one night in the emergency room, wondering if your child will live or die, and you stop worrying about what other people think.” After that, I decided that having peanuts on my flight just wasn’t that important. Something to think about, anyway.
A lot of illnesses and disorders come in package deals, not just allergies, I think the term is “comorbid”. Usually the conditions are somewhat related, but are independent of one another. For example ADHD and depression often occur simultaneously in one person. OCD and Tourettes are also commonly comorbid.
So a peanut allergy and a tree nut allergy may just be commonly comorbid.
Peanut allergies DO occur in older people. One of my co-workers developed an allergy to peanuts and other legumes at the age of 38. She got a new job closer to her home, and the day after she left everyone in the office had pad thai! (Peanut products were not allowed in the office until then.)
We’ve discussed this before:
As I stated in that thread, I believe some people are truly allergic to peanuts. And yes, some people have even died. This notwithstanding, it is my opinion that there exists a lot of neurotic parents who believe their child is allergic to peanuts, when in fact they’re not.
I suspect the wife of a friend of mine is one such parent. She believes her 10-year-old daughter will die if she inhales one peanut molecule.
I remember the first time they came over to our house. Before she came over, she called the local emergency response team to alert them that they will be in the area, and to be ready in case their daughter was exposed to peanuts. (I am not making this up.) When they arrived she spent half the time looking through our refrigerator and cabinets looking for any food products that might contain peanuts. She finally found something with a label that said, “This product may contain peanut residue” or something like that. She then made a big show of putting this item in the back of a top cupboard. At the time I thought, “Wow, her daughter must be very sensitive to peanuts.” But then as we got to know her, we concluded she is, in general, a bit… strange. She seems to thrive on attention. I often wonder if the peanut thing is nothing more than a way for her to gain attention.
So we should blame EpiPens? 
A lot of people who are “allergic” to things are not really allergic to those things, in the sense that they are not IgE-related hypersensitivities.
I’m another person who’s allergic to seeds, peanuts, and “real” nuts. Fortunately, my situation isn’t as severe as those who cannot even be in the same room as somebody eating a PB&J sandwich. Also, for some odd reason, I have no problem with peanut oil or any other nut or seed-derived oil. In any case, I’m also allergic to eggs so I’m a real fun person to invite to dinner parties or go to restaurants with.
Are almonds really nuts? I somehow recall reading somewhere that they belong to a different family. (However, I’m still avoiding them until I’m absolutely sure they’re safe.)
Well, it’s kind of an odd thing really. Seeds are not botanically nuts. Almonds are seeds. As are pine nuts, brazil nuts, pistachios, peanuts and cashews. Peanuts happen to be seeds of a legume. However, nut (food-wise) allergies seem to be related even if botanically some of the things might be tree nuts, and other seeds. Tree nuts are things pecans, walnuts, chestnuts and hazelnuts – not necessarily what most people think when they think “nuts”.
There’s a popular theory now that allergies are getting more severe from generation to generation because cleanliness standards have improved and removed many of the things our immune systems would otherwise be working on. Apparently, having so few valid things to do, immune systems are liklier to attack things we don’t need attacked. According to a show I heard on NPR today, doctors are even infecting people with parasitic worms to give their immune systems a fairly benign target to focus their efforts on.
Yeah, I’ve always wondered about that too, but never bothered to look it up.
Oh HELL yes. “One little molecule of peanut in the same area code is going to kill little Jimmy” B.S. If Jummy is that sensitive, keep him home. And I hear people claiming to be allergic to all kinds of stuff (like paint), I don’t believe them either.
Squink, thanks! Probably more of what the Shagster wanted than a bunch of anecdotes.
My son is deathly allergic to cashews, but peanuts, coconut and walnuts don’t bother him. When he gets older we’ll have him tested for other nuts, but for now we avoid all the ones we are unsure about.