Democracy for Vancouver

This story about asthma, Allergy-Induced Asthma More Common in Affluent Countries, reminded me of a George Carlin routine in which he said:

“in my neighborhood no one ever got polio, no one, ever. you know why? cause we swam in the east river. we swam in raw sewage! it strengthened our immune systems, the polio never had a prayer, we were tempered in raw shit.”

According to one theory from this asthma study:

The exact cause of asthma still isn’t known, but some experts have suggested that the rise in asthma incidence may be related to more sterile homes and the use of antibiotics. The “hygiene hypothesis” theorizes that without real challenges — like those from bacteria and viruses — the human immune system may begin responding to harmless substances, such as animal dander, causing allergy and asthma symptoms. While this theory is still controversial, some studies have supported the idea, according to the academy.

I have asthma. I did not grow up in a very sterile environment even though we did have a maid during part of my childhood. Both my parents chained smoked all the time and kept the windows up at all times when they did so in the car. I grew up in a 100 year old house that surely had lead paint under one of the 20 coats or so of paint and no precautions were taken when it was stripped in the process of remodeling and repainting. We had bats in the belfry and rats in the basement at times.

Regarding antibiotics, I had plenty of them growing up. It seemed like every time I went to the doctor, penicillin was prescribed for this thing or that thing. And I am sure when the doctor whacked my tonsils out at five years old like they did to everyone back then, antibiotics were the follow up treatment.

I’ve been allergic to dust and perfumes/colognes ever since I was a teenager. Later on I developed an allergy to cats (even though I have five of them right now, I wash my hands a lot and sneeze a lot). The skin on my hands actually came off one time because the previous owner of a car that I purchased used cologne and unbeknownst to me, it was embedded in the steering wheel. As soon as I put a cover on the steering wheel, I got my skin back.

Around 1991, the State of Florida dumped massive quantities of a poison, malathion, on all the residents attempting to eradicate an infestation of the fruit fly and save the orange crop. Ever since the very day they dumped those chemicals on me, my allergies intensified significantly. Now I can enjoy my orange juice while I gasp for air between gulps.

This is just another example of the yin and yang of the universe. I’m going to take my next vacation in NYC and go for a long swim.