SC - Re: Allergies in General

[RANDALL DIAMOND]

One reason Americans may have more allergies,
than Europeans and Icelanders have very few is
likely due to two major factors (natural rather than
pollutants). The biolgical diversity of species is 
much greater in North America than in Europe and 
the climate is much warmer.  The worst areas are 
what are loosely catagorized as "temperate rain
forest".  This includes the Cascades range in the
Pacific NW and the Appalachian range complex
in the Eastern US.  The very worst areas are where
the high mountain species meet lowland/ coastal
species and the weather is warm and humid.  Oregon
and central Alabama have some of the highest pollen
counts in the world!  I have seen two inch drifts of pollen
like snow in Auburn, Alabama where the early spring
green is totally covered with a bright yellow blanket.  
Besides the incredible variety of native species, these
areas also are strongholds of naturalized European
species.  

Why did this not also occur in Europe?  Well mostly 
the higher latitude and colder climate restricts the
general range of North American species much more
than the reverse.  For instance, kudzu is not a problem
in Japan as it is largely controlled by climatic conditions.
In the South, the long hot, humid growing conditions turn
many European and asian plants into horrible pests.
Like the Scotish Thistle for instance, I cannot tell you
how much work it takes to control these weeds.
Sure, the chemical pollution and other factors in North
America have a big effect on allergy development, but
IMO, the big problem is a prolonged assault of dense
clouds of multi-species pollens and sporing molds over
a long, long season.   In Iceland, the climate restricts
these natural irritants to very short periods.  I would
bet that few folks in Iceland have much in the way of
hay fever either.  

Mainly our bodies have evolved from African and European
regions and are adapted to survive the pollens and molds
there because we evolved along with these plants.  The
reason we have reactions is improper connections of protein
and other compounds in our evolved metabolic process.  When
improper combinations (especially histimines) occur, our bodies
react chemically to combat it causing reactions both mild and 
deadly.  We are still evolving defenses as 500 years is way too
short a time for a natural adaptation to evolve.  I'm afraid we
will not solve our allergy problems in our lifetimes unless we
resort to genetic engineering ourselves which probably is an
even worse option than suffering through the allergy seasons.

Just out of curiousity, we have had at least one death directly
related to allergies at an SCA feast in Meridies and several
close calls I seem to remember also.  The Gentle who died was
very allergic to eggplant, knew he was eating it and failed to 
get to his medicine in time to save his life.  No onus was put
on the feastcrat as the gentle knew what he was eating.  Have
there been many instances in other Kingdoms?  I would be
interested in seeing if there are a wide assortment of causative
ingredients or a relatively small range of food substances involved.
I would tend to leave out deaths due to diabetes and other long
term diseases, but would like to know how widespread the problem
is among otherwise healthy persons not on medication for a 
medical deficiency.

Akim Yaroslavich
"No glory comes without pain"