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Voice intro:

Welcome to another edition of Portable Practical Pediatrics. I’m your host, Dr. Paul Smolen, also known as Doc Smo. From the bassinet to the board room, if the topic involves children, we talk about it here. I frequently get asked by the parents of my patients, “Why do so many children have food allergy, asthma, and eczema today? Most of these parents don’t remember their friends having nearly the incidence of allergy that today’s children do and that was just a few decades ago. What is going on, they ask? Well, my answer is that we really don’t know, but we are beginning to get closer to an answer. For years, immunologists and allergists have been talking about something called the Hygiene Hypothesis to explain all of this allergy. Recent observations have made this less of a theory and more of an explanation. Experts are beginning to have some understanding. So in today’s pedcast, I thought we would talk about some of this evidence and introduce you to the current thinking about allergies and children. The hope is if we can understand what is driving the allergy epidemic, we can help protect future kids from suffering from with terrible allergies. Continue reading →