Essential Reading for Every Parent In the early 1990s, tens of thousands of children with severe peanut and food allergies arrived for kindergarten at schools in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States. The phenomenon of a life-threatening allergy in kids in only these countries occurred simultaneously, without warning, and it quickly intensified. The number of peanut allergic children in the United States alone went from virtually none to about two million in just twenty years. As these children have aged, the combined number of American adults and children allergic to peanuts has grown to a total of four million. How and why has this epidemic occurred? In The Peanut Allergy Epidemic, Heather Fraser explains: Precisely when the peanut allergy epidemic began How a child-specific allergy epidemic happened before, at the close of the nineteenth century That in the early twentieth century doctors including the 1913 Nobel Prize in medicine winner identified vaccination as the cause of the first pediatric allergy epidemic impacting 50 percent of children That more than one hundred years of medical literature describes how vaccination creates allergy to what is in the shot, air, or body at the time of injection How changes in US vaccination legislation sparked the allergy epidemic in children Fraser also highlights alternative medicines and explores issues of vaccine safety and other food allergies, making this fully updated second edition a must-read for every parent, teacher, and health professional.

Essential reading for every parent of a child with peanut allergies—third edition with a foreword by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Why is the peanut allergy an epidemic that only seems to be found in western cultures? More than four million people in the United States alone are affected by peanut allergies, while there are few reported cases in India, a country where peanut is the primary ingredient in many baby food products. Where did this allergy come from, and does medicine play any kind of role in the phenomenon? After her own child had an anaphylactic reaction to peanut butter, historian Heather Fraser decided to discover the answers to these questions. In The Peanut Allergy Epidemic, Fraser delves into the history of this allergy, trying to understand why it largely develops in children and studying its relationship with social, medical, political, and economic factors. In an international overview of the subject, she compares the epidemic in the United States to sixteen other geographical locations; she finds that in addition to the United States in countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Sweden, there is a one in fifty chance that a child, especially a male, will develop a peanut allergy. Fraser also highlights alternative medicines and explores issues of vaccine safety and other food allergies. This third edition features a foreword from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and a new chapter on promising leads for cures to peanut allergies. The Peanut Allergy Epidemic is a must read for every parent, teacher, and health professional.

The History of the Peanut Allergy Epidemic by Heather Fraser is a must-read for every parent, teacher, and health professional. This far-reaching history of the current epidemic of peanut allergy provides compelling answers to why this condition develops primarily in children and how its prevalence has ballooned to over 3 million people in the US alone. Heather Fraser, an historian and mother of a peanut allergy child, pinpoints the precise moment of this allergy's appearance and describes the perfect storm of social, medical, political and economic factors from which it has grown. With an international overview-more than sixteen geographical locations are analyzed-and thirty pages of endnotes and appendices, Fraser has delivered a meticulously documented and illuminating account of a growing epidemic. Heather Fraser, MA, BA, B.Ed is a Toronto-based writer and the mother of a child who has a peanut allergy.

Over 10% of the population in Western countries suffer from allergies, 8% of that being children and 2% of that being adults. These statistics were found by The Division of Allergy and Immunology of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 2019. At the time of the study it was stated that these numbers were most likely to rise, so the population of persons with allergies is presumably significantly larger today. Another contributing factor to a likely higher percentage of the population suffering from allergies than reflected in the study is that the study does not include people who have not been diagnosed with an allergy. These people have not yet been diagnosed either because they have yet to be exposed to an allergen or because they have not sought out treatment. Despite the numbers only representing some of the population who have allergies over the past ten years, (XIII) the number of peanut allergies diagnosed in America has increased by 3.5 fold. This increase is extremely significant and it means there is something contributing to the rise of diagnoses of allergies. There are many factors which this rise can be attributed to, including the rise in access to doctors for the general population as well as increasing levels of cleanliness in our living environment which means that when one is exposed to a threatening substance it causes a more adverse reaction. Though these reasons may have had an effect on the increase in allergy prevalence in general, there must be some other reason for the striking increase in peanut allergies specifically within the American population. This sharp rise in the diagnosis of peanut allergies correlates with the overprotection of American children whose parents do not allow them to eat peanuts until middle or late childhood. The reasons for the overprotection of American children is a result of the obsolete advice of physicians regarding peanuts compounded with the general attitude of parents sheltering their children in America.

A life-changing, research-based program that will end food allergies in children and adults forever. The problem of food allergy is exploding around us. But this book offers the first glimpse of hope with a powerful message: You can work with your family and your doctor to eliminate your food allergy forever. The trailblazing research of Dr. Kari Nadeau at Stanford University reveals that food allergy is not a life sentence, because the immune system can be retrained. Food allergies--from mild hives to life-threatening airway constriction--can be disrupted, slowed, and stopped. The key is a strategy called immunotherapy (IT)--the controlled, gradual reintroduction of an allergen into the body. With innovations that include state-of-the-art therapies targeting specific components of the immune system, Dr. Nadeau and her team have increased the speed and effectiveness of this treatment to a matter of months. New York Times bestselling author Sloan Barnett, the mother of two children with food allergies, provides a lay perspective that helps make Dr. Nadeau's research accessible for everyone. Together, they walk readers through every aspect of food allergy, including how to find the right treatment and how to manage the ongoing fear of allergens that haunts so many sufferers, to give us a clear, supportive plan to combat a major national and global health issue.

As an internationally renowned specialist in childhood allergy and immunology, Prof. Susan Prescott takes us on a journey into the science behind the allergy epidemic. As both an allergy specialist working in a busy children's hospital and as a cutting edge research scientist, Prescott is perfectly placed to explore how and why we are experiencing an epidemic rise in allergic diseases, as well as the practical side of dealing with these potentially serious conditions. With clear, no-nonsense explanations and a very personable style, Prescott informs, assures, and educates in this book.

Robyn O’Brien is not the most likely candidate for an antiestablishment crusade. A Houston native from a conservative family, this MBA and married mother of four was not someone who gave much thought to misguided government agencies and chemicals in our food—until the day her youngest daughter had a violent allergic reaction to eggs, and everything changed. The Unhealthy Truth is both the story of how one brave woman chose to take on the system and a call to action that shows how each of us can do our part and keep our own families safe. O’Brien turns to accredited research conducted in Europe that confirms the toxicity of America’s food supply, and traces the relationship between Big Food and Big Money that has ensured that the United States is one of the only developed countries in the world to allow hidden toxins in our food—toxins that can be blamed for the alarming recent increases in allergies, ADHD, cancer, and asthma among our children. Featuring recipes and an action plan for weaning your family off dangerous chemicals one step at a time The Unhealthy Truth is a must-read for every parent—and for every concerned citizen—in America today.