Allergies --- Myth or Fact

People seem to waste a lot of time telling me about allergies. The only evidence they have is they hear about them from some celebrity on television. My strategy for avoiding allergies is not to watch television. It seems to work for me. Below is what research actually shows.

The prevalence of food allergy in the UK at present is estimated to be 1.4% of the population. This figure has been confirmed by double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenges. However, the perceived incidence among adults is over 20%. The prevalence is at its highest in young children, at 5-7% (5-7 children out of 100), although 80-90% of sufferers have outgrown their sensitivity by the age of three years. Children are likely to outgrow an allergy to milk or eggs, particularly if it is not IgE mediated, but are less likely to outgrow allergy to peanuts and fish.
The prevalence of cows’ milk allergy, for example, is estimated to be 2% in the first year of life. However, approximately 50% of infants will have recovered by one year of age and 90% by three years of age. Those who still have cows’ milk allergy after the age of three years are usually shown to be IgE-sensitized.
Probiotic treatment compared with placebo showed no effect on the cumulative incidence of allergic diseases but tended to reduce IgE-associated (atopic) diseases.
Reports of children’s food allergies in the U.S. suggest that 27% of children with food allergies also report skin allergies and 30% report respiratory allergies.
The most common foods to cause food allergy in adults are shrimp, lobster, crab, and other shellfish; peanuts (one of the chief foods responsible for severe anaphylaxis), walnuts and other tree nuts, fish, and eggs.