Is Cleanliness to Blame for the Allergies Upswing?

Forget a spike in the pollen count or increased exposure to pet dander, some experts believe clean living is to blame for the rising allergy epidemic. No, they’re not kidding.

Although no one knows why the incidence of allergies is skyrocketing in this country, a leading theory holds that our world (at least in the

United States and other Western countries) is simply too clean. Some researchers call this the “hygiene theory.” Marc Rothenberg, M.D., Ph.D., section chief of Allergy and Clinical Immunology at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati, calls it the “delinquency theory,” as in, the immune system has so little to do, it turns into a kind of physiological juvenile delinquent just itching to get into trouble.

The problem stems from the tremendous advances we’ve made in the past 50 years in combating infectious diseases, parasites and other pathogens. With vaccines eliminating many previously common childhood diseases, penicillin vanquishing others, and the American penchant for cleanliness (just think about the tremendous explosion in sales of antibacterial wipes, soaps and lotions), a germ doesn’t have a chance.

“The immune system’s function is to recognize the difference between self and foreign bodies,” Rothenberg explains. “Self is fine, foreign bodies are bad. Yet many foreign bodies you come in contact with (such as the hundreds of food proteins you eat and thousands of molecules you breathe in daily) are also fine.”