Profile:

facts mom

…has a peanut allergy and not all of those are “severly” allergic. (Compare that with the exponentially higher incidence of diabetes–diabetics need plant based proteins like peanuts during flights to keep their blood sugar levels under control.) or, a milk allergy which is far more prevelent.
Airborne exposure will not affect the body systemically, so therefore cannot cause anaphylaxis. If extremely allergic, you may have some symptoms like sneezing, running nose and coughing. For those peanut or tree nut allergic, and for all food allergies, you MUST ingest the food protein to have a systemtic reaction. And, even with direct skin contact to tree nuts, peanuts or peanut and nut butters, most allergic people will not show signs of a reaction, or it so it will be a localized minor one such as hives, or a welt.
You can, however, have a psyhcosomatic reaction to anything you are afraid of. Peanut allergy has become an exaggerated fear to the detriment of those who suffer from other food allergies and other serious and chronic diseases.
A few Facts: more than 3,000 kids die from asthma each year; 10,000 kids go to the hospital each year with brain injuries due to sports; 45,000 kids die in car accidents. Last time i saw a statisic on food allergy fatalities it was aobut 100 to 150 over a five year period for all foods. This is not to say that peanut and tree nut allergies, or any allergy is not serious. They are.
But I wonder if these same parents who are demandting that peanuts and tree nuts be banned from everywhere are asking for sports be eliminated from school programs, or if their children are being kept out of sports. or, have they given up driving their children in a car; or, will they get their son or daughter a drivers license at age 16.
i have a friend whose child almost died twice from a serious allergy to milk because people think milk allergy can’t be fatal; they confuse milk allergy with lactose intolerance because the hysteria created by some about peanut has drowned out any sense of reason and overshadowed everyone else’s issues. A recent widely publicized study showed that far more people think they have food allergies than actually do. Again, i am not minimizing those who do, but a food allergy needs to be diagnosed by a certified immunologist who conducts a food challenge. Then and only then does a patient really know what they are allergic to. and, a food allergy is very different than a food sensitivity. Many people have multiple food allergies, but once properly diagnosed that person needs to be taught to care for themselves and take all necessary precautions.
Also, I read in the news is that patients with egg and food allergy have now been de-sensitized in clinical settings with guess what? egg and peanut! so, let’s rid ourselves of the hysteria. let’s stop our demanding and outrageousness and let’s call for ome common sense. i fear for these children that are being raised by parents to live in fear of the “bogey man”. instead of teaching them to handle whatever afflication they have in a responsible and calm manner–whether it’s severe asthma, other food allergies, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and the hundreds of other afflications that so many of us live with everyday.
I myself have a food allergy so i truly understand what it takes to be vigliant; it isn’t easy.
in all my years of flying and with all the different carriers i have been on, i find that whether in the US or abroad, without legislation, they try to be as accommodating as possible when people plan ahead and are not behaving rudely.
we have more than enough regulation and every time a new regulation comes along it always carries unintended consequences. so, once you ban peanuts and tree nuts, will you prohibit seeing eye dogs on flights for those of us who are severly allergic? Remember, you can die from an asthma attack caused by a reaction to an animal. or, will you have a voice of reason and talk with the carrier, check on your medications, where a highly refined mask and take the right precautions.
My own near fatal experience to a different allergy reinforced for me that if you demand the world conform to you, you will become lax making it more likely you will have an accidenta encounter. we need to be prepared and proactive, not create a bubble around ourselves and our children.
« less