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Inorganic Chemical Pollutants
Published in William J. Rea, Kalpana D. Patel, Reversibility of Chronic Disease and Hypersensitivity, Volume 4, 2017
William J. Rea, Kalpana D. Patel
In industrialized countries, asthma, hypersensitivity, cardiovascular, neurodegeneration, and electromagnetic, and chemical sensitivity are increasingly prevalent.294 According to the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), one in three children today is allergic and 30%–50% of them will develop asthma. It is estimated that by year 2015, half of all Europeans may be suffering from allergy295 or chemical or electrical sensitivity. The studies are no different in the United States. Asthma is a product of both genetic predisposition and environmental pollution conditions. Children in wealthy countries are more likely to develop allergy-related asthma than children in poorer nations.296 The hygiene hypothesis suggests that lack of intense infections due to improved hygiene, vaccination, and antibiotics has altered the immune system to improperly respond to neutral substances.297 There also may be other reasons for this hypersensitivity. Approximately 80% of asthma cases today are caused by allergies but a growing number has developed nonallergic hypersensitivity causing chemical and electric hypersensitivity. Evidence already exists that environmental particulate matter, such as air pollutants and diesel exhaust particles, enhances airway, vascular, respiratory pesticides, hyperresponsiveness, and exacerbation of asthma as well as increases respiratory and cardiovascular mortality and morbidity.298–300 The most susceptible population groups for these adverse health effects include elderly subjects with chronic cardiorespiratory disease, as well as children and asthmatic subjects of all ages. These studies do not even consider the neurological and vascular effects seen in a large number of the chemically sensitive and chronic degenerative disease population who have severe environmental perturbations. These changes in the chemically sensitive and chronic degenerative disease patients involve nanoparticles and small particles in their etiology. They do not necessarily involve the IGE or IgE mechanism; however, they involve the influx of intracellular Ca2+ across the cell membrane combining with protein kinase A and C being phosphorylated, which triggers their hypersensitivity up to 1000 times.
Association of early daycare attendance with allergic disorders in children: a longitudinal national survey in Japan
Published in Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health, 2020
Akiko Tokinobu, Takashi Yorifuji, Michiyo Yamakawa, Toshihide Tsuda, Hiroyuki Doi
Under the hygiene hypothesis, first proposed by Strachan in the late 1980s,1 hygienic conditions with lack of exposure to infections in early childhood has been suggested to be a risk factor for allergic diseases in later life. This hypothesis has been investigated by numerous epidemiologic studies with different environmental factors that are considered to augment opportunities for infection, eg, older siblings,2,3 pet ownership,4,5 and farming environment.6,7 Among these factors, daycare attendance is an important factor that provides children the opportunity to be in contact with many other children, and is considered to be a substantial risk factor of infections.8,9 However, the number of previous studies that investigated the association of early daycare attendance with development of allergic diseases in subsequent life is less compared with studies examining other factors of the hygiene hypothesis.
Association of environmental exposure to heavy metals and eczema in US population: Analysis of blood cadmium, lead, and mercury
Published in Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health, 2019
Jia Wei, Junfeng (Jim) Zhang, John S. Ji
We found in non-adults that younger individuals had a higher risk of eczema (p = 0,0005). We also found in adults that female had a higher risk of eczema (p = 0.0009). Our findings were in line with previous findings that in US children, eczema was associated with age but not gender, while in US adults, the results were the opposite.4,49 We also found that eczema was positively related with socioeconomic status (SES), represented by education and family income variables in our study. This suggests a possibility of “the hygiene hypothesis”, which posits that the absence of early childhood exposure to infectious agents increases the risk of allergic diseases.50 However, it has been questionable with this concept regarding eczema or AD.51,52