fascinating (pets/children/allergies)

[Guest guest]

Dear All -

 

As an allergic child who, at one point, lived in as close a sterile environment as my mother could get me, I can say with CERTAINTY that I have seen this first hand.

 

I went from NO animals - and horrid allergies - to three cats, at least one dog, a guinea pig, mice and several horses. At first, of course, I was a disaster, but somewhere in her DNA my mother felt this was the way to deal with the situation and by gum she was right. As a result of her intervention, not only did I have a fantastic childhood with pretty much all the animal friends I could desire, my allergies went down considerably.

 

And a few years back, when I hit 35 y.o., that magic number allergists like to point to, and my allergies looked like they were coming back, I went back to animal therapy. In addition to the 2 cats I had, I added another cat and have cycled through several dogs (raised Guide Dogs for a while). I now just have the one dog and a large lot with plenty of wild areas that haven't quite been cultivated, so the dog brings in all sorts of pollens etc. I'm happy to report that I'm doing great and the allergies (with a wee bit of support from Yu Ping Feng San Wan) are, in essence, gone.

 

As for those antibacterial soaps - who thought THAT was a good idea? Before surgery, sure I want my surgeon washing within an inch of their lives. But kids? I don't know about you all, but I'm old enough to remember parents laughing when their children made "mud pies" and ate them. Now, a kid gets a speck of dust on their hands and out come all the anti-this and anti-that wipes. Makes my skin crawl and it has NEVER been something I've believed in.

 

Regards -

 

Dia

Dia Vickery, PhDOrdained Clergywww.moonwillow.com/OakHeathermoonwillowNever invoke the gods unless you really want them to appear. It annoys them very much. -G.K. Chesterton

 

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cha

Wednesday, August 28, 2002 8:45 AM

fascinating

Recently released data that children who live with pets from birth are 50% less allergic to all respiratory irritants than other children. theory: the superclean environment we raise our kids in has hurt their immune systems by denying them important childhood exposures. other factors that should now be studied are things like use of antibiotic cleansers and widespread vaccination for harmless diseases like measles (yes I know a very small % of malnourished children living in overcrowded neighborhoods get serious sequelae of measles. However, public health measures and nutrition have had ten times the impact of vaccines on measles in america). it would seem more prudent to treat those at risk and leave the rest of us alone. there has been some speculation that vaccines promote autoimmunity. I used to think this was a direct toxic effect, but now I wonder if it is really because natural immunity is thwarted and aberrations thus occur.Chinese Herbshttp://www..orgvoice: fax: "Great spirits have always been violently opposed by mediocre minds" -- Albert Einstein