Warning: Kids With Allergies Have Twice the Risk of Heart Diseases

Heart disease can strike early for children with childhood allergies

Allergens are all around us but only some of us are allergic to them (Photo: iStock altered by The Quint)

One in ten of us in India is allergic. From pollen to dust, gluten to peanuts and everything in between, allergies send thousands of Indians to the emergency room every year. And now scientists in the Northwestern University have found that children with common allergies like, hay fever and asthma, are twice as likely to suffer from heart diseases at a surprisingly young age.

Startled? Read below:

Reasons For Cardiovascular Risks

We are all covered head to toe with bacteria, but unlike the generations before us, we are suffering from an allergy epidemic. There are no cumulative numbers for allergies in India, but doctors are increasingly seeing a rapid rise in all kinds of allergy cases.

This particular study which connects heart diseases and allergies was done on over 13,000 kids across USA but scientists don’t clearly say why kids who wheeze from asthma, sneeze from seasonal allergies or itch from eczema may have twice the risk of heart diseases. There are certain theories though:

1. Children with allergies lead a more sedentary life, partly because going outdoors and exercises may trigger their symptoms. Asthma and eczema are also linked to sleep disorders

2. Less physical activity means higher rates of obesity, blood pressure, a build up of cholesterol - all are factors for heart illnesses.

3. Also, biologically, allergies involve more inflammation, and inflammation is increasingly implicated in many of heart disease’s primary risk factors, including hypertension and high cholesterol.

The research has been published in the latest edition of Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

(Photo: iStock altered by The Quint)

What Is Causing the Allergy Epidemic?

The strength of this study lies in the large size - an analysis of over 13,000 children cannot be ignored even though the study does not highlight a cause-and-effect relationship between heart diseases and common allergies. However, scientists do stress on the importance of stopping the allergy epidemic.

What prompted the whole allergy epidemic in this century? Could it be the problem of of exposure to allergens or is the problem one of increasing sensitivity to whatever allergens are present? (Photo: iStock)

When your immune system misinterprets something as harmless as dust or peanuts as a threat, you pay the price with sneezing, wheezing and in rare cases, even death. Many times the vulnerability to allergies is genetic but no one knows for sure why one person’s immune system errs like this while others never do.

There are many culprits though- a big factor is how we bring up our children. Today more than half the babies born in India are by Caesarean section - this is huge because a Norwegian study done in 2013 found that C-sec babies have a 52% higher chance of suffering from allergies than those born vaginally.

Breast milk is known to contain up to 900 species of good bacteria that protect against a variety of illnesses including allergies, possibly explaining why exclusively breast-fed babies are less likely to suffer from allergies.

Another big threat is the use of antibiotics. Researchers at King’s College London found that the use of antibiotics in infants and toddlers increases the risk of developing eczema by a whopping 40%.

If you don’t have an existing allergy, it’s time to ditch the indoors and step outside in the greens on a regular basis (Photo: iStock)

Undoubtedly children today are being exposed to fewer good bacteria - another factor, scientists think adds to the burden of allergies. A number of studies highlight the importance of environment, beginning in the mother’s womb. Certain microbes during pregnancy stimulate a mother’s immune system which prevent allergic disease in children.

Sedentary lifestyle is one huge reason for missing out on a variety of bacteria that lurk in gardens or waft through the air. It’s a no-brainer that the easiest thing to reduce our chances of allergies is to go for a stroll outside, take a deep breath and soak in the friendly microbes that build our immune system.