Page 63 - Winter2020

All Thumbs Book Reviews

The History of the Peanut Allergy Epidemic Fraser educates the reader about the in-
By Heather Fraser teresting difference between sensitization to
CreateSpace Independent allergens (like the allergens found in peanuts)
Publishing Platform and reactions to allergens. This distinction is
an important piece of the peanut allergy puzzle.
Recently, the famous Home Alone movie Fraser’s discussion of the most effective ways to
actor Macaulay Culkin posted a funny quip to elicit allergen sensitization in people is another
social media. “Want to feel old? I turned 40 vital clue to understanding the overall puzzle.
today.” Like a relic from another age, Culkin’s The fact is that it is hard to become sensitized,
movies remind me of the America that I grew up because the body has important systems and
in almost a generation ago. It was not just a time defenses that seek to keep it from happening—
when lack of air conditioning meant that people unless we bypass them.
spent more time outdoors on their porches, but Fraser does an excellent job of showing how
also an era when seasonal allergies and asthma the numerous theories and factors that have been
were the exception rather than the norm, and used to explain the explosion in peanut allergies
food allergies were uncommon. don’t hold water. Can age, type of peanut, loca-
Forty years later, food allergies are big busi- tion, maternal consumption or year of birth give
ness. On the food industry side, “allergen-free” us any insights into why this is happening? Is it
foods are a growing, multibillion-dollar segment hygiene or helminths or toxins? The data show
of the food market. On the pharmaceutical in- that most of these are dead ends—but not all. A
dustry side, drugs, treatments, EpiPens and other few of these variables point to disturbing con-
interventions are likewise worth billions. In her clusions, such as the sudden and drastic uptick
2010 book, The History of the Peanut Allergy in food allergies that began around 1990, or the
Epidemic, Heather Fraser describes how we New Zealand study which followed over one
quickly moved from trying to sort out the causes thousand children and found that sizable pro-
of the allergy epidemic to simply managing portions of the vaccinated subgroup had asthma
symptoms. “At the end of the day,” she says, episodes (23 percent), asthma consultations (23
“the questions ‘how and why is this happening’ percent) and consultations for other allergic ill-
remained unanswered. What emerged instead nesses (30 percent).
in response to the mystery was a massive Food If the first half of the book shows why vari-
Allergy Industry, the infrastructure of which ous theories cannot explain the peanut allergy
included billions of dollars in the sale of ‘free- epidemic, the second half seeks to make a clear
from’ foods, web sites, blogs, magazines and case for what does explain it. In brief, as Fraser
parent-initiated lobby groups.” states, “Mass allergic phenomena emerged as
Among food allergies, peanut allergy is a side effect of a late 19th century technology: Mass allergic
especially problematic because it is both wide- vaccination.” Fraser explores historical and phenomena
spread and deadly. Fraser cites a 1991 U.S. study scientific data showing how and why vaccines emerged
which determined that nine in ten food allergy and their adjuvants—the metals and other
fatalities “were due to ingestion of peanut/tree compounds used to increase vaccine effective- as a side
nuts.” Why is a food that has been consumed ness—bring about a known but ignored risk effect of a
across the entire world for two thousand years and “side effect”: allergic sensitization to the
suddenly a scourge, but only in certain coun- various things found in the vaccines. . . things late 19th
tries? This is the riddle that Heather Fraser like peanut oil. In fact, “The more effective a century
seeks to unravel, as she takes us across decades vaccine is, the greater the risks of allergies and technology:
of research and science to a simple, factually other adverse effects.” And if you want to know
sound conclusion. why peanut oil became the choice par excellence vaccination.

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