[Jan 23, 97 - 14:50] Regina Finan of 1:2410/534 wrote to Jerry Schwartz:
JS>> There may be a link with the widespread use of peanuts.  Apparently
JS>> peanuts sensitize kids to a lot of seemingly unrelated things such as
JS>> real nuts.  That and the link between inner-city asthma and
JS>> cockroaches are two hot topics in allergy circles these days. 
JS>> Jerry Schwartz
RF>  My kids don't eat much peanuts.  In fact, they don't care for them, but 
do
RF>  like other type of nuts.  Of course, alot of foods are processed with
RF>  peanut oil.
Peanuts turn up in all kinds of things: one of the big food producers just 
recalled something or other (I forget what, perhaps some cereal?) because one 
lot had traces of peanut in it when it shouldn't.  There is a potential for 
fatal reactions.  The new news is that peanuts seem to provoke 
cross-sensitivity more widely than previously suspected.  I read about a 
recent study in which they were investigating allergies to true nuts (the 
kind that grown on trees) and they used peanuts as a control.  They 
discovered that the "control" wasn't really a control because of the 
cross-sensitivity.
RF>  What type of link is there between inner-city asthma and cockroaches?
I've only heard a bit about this, but apparently there are inner-city 
neighborhoods where perhaps 30% of the people have asthma.  Cockroach feces 
are being investigated as the culprit.  Originally there was a lot of 
speculation about "urban pollution" but cockroaches are a known allergen and 
are more widespread than any single form of man-made pollution.
I've lived in New York City and can tell you that cockroaches are everywhere, 
even in the kitchens of the rich and famous.  They are extremely durable.
Now that I think about it, I wonder if this might be related to the perceived 
prevalence of asthma among Jews, who up until a generation or two ago were 
concentrated in urban centers.  It's probably too late to examine that in 
detail.
Of course, it could turn out to be some widely-used insecticide, too.  I can 
remember buying RAID in 1/2 gallon containers.  I would pour a ring of liquid 
RAID around the kitchen sink.  Cockroaches need to drink, so in the morning 
there would be a ring of dead cockroaches around the sink which we would 
sweep up before making breakfast.  We got in the habit of washing dishes 
before using them, too.
And I lived in a NICE neighborhood in Queens.
Jerry Schwartz
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