A specter of things to come

By Anne-Marie

When my kids’ eczema flares up, their dad says, “You get your yucky skin from your mama.” Unfortunately, it’s true. And since I had eczema, allergies and asthma as a child, my children are more likely to develop these conditions. So when I read about a medical study at National Jewish Medical and Research Center trying to determine if treating eczema in infancy prevents asthma, I enrolled my daughter, Lucie. I did it more out of curiosity than concern as I blamed Colorado’s dry climate for her skin condition. After all, she’s the spitting image of her father, so there was no way she was going to inherit any of my problems.

How wrong I was. Last week Lucie had a very strong reaction to baby sunscreen and broke out in severe hives over 80 percent of her body. The hives have gone away, but her eczema is now much worse. Could this mean she’ll develop her mama’s allergies and asthma? Only time will tell, but I really, really hope not.

In the ‘70s there were only drugs to treat -- not prevent -- asthma, so having allergies and asthma was about what I wasn’t able to have or do. I couldn’t have a dog, because I was very allergic to animals. I couldn’t participate in sports, because my asthma was exercise-induced. I couldn’t eat chocolate, because it triggered my asthma. I wasn’t able to participate in an exchange student program because of my asthma. I couldn’t spend the night at a friend’s, because I was allergic to the wool carpeting in their house. The list went on and on.

So what does this mean for Lucie? There have been great advances in preventative drugs. I often read stories of athletes with asthma playing professional sports or participating in the Olympics. Still I don’t want her to go through life having limits on what she can do, but there’s nothing to prevent it. As a former asthmatic, I know I’ll be the best support system she can have. We’ll deal with it together, if and when it comes.

Comments

[Air Jordan]

"As every divided kingdom falls, so every mind divided between many studies confounds and saps itself.

[Ian McAllister]

As far as I know it has never been proved that asthma is inherited. Sure, your child is more likely to get asthma if you are an asthmatic, but your child is also more likely to share all of your tastes than other people.

Your child will probably barrack for the same football club, have the same favourite junk food, have the same attitude to reading books and so on, but none of that is inherited.

There is a free cure for asthma. Any child over the age of 3 is capable of following the instructions to remain asthma free if you help them. Make a game of it. That is what you should be doing.

You say "Still I don’t want her to go through life having limits on what she can do, but there’s nothing to prevent it." Don't then! Teach your child to avoid asthma.

[Alicia]

Well, if you all had such bad genes, then you shouldn't have bred. You're making all of these comments about how you feel so sorry for your children but if you really had compassion for them, you wouldn't have willingly put them in a bad situation. I myself have good genes and no problems with asthma, severe allergies etc. When I was looking to get married, good genes were on my list of things for a mate. I looked at them and i looked at their families. As a result of my common sense, my children are healthy and happy. I had a best friend who had severe allergies and asthma and she practically lived in the hospital when we were kids. She couldn't do any of the other things other kids could do. She had to have painful shots 3X a week and take medicine that made her fat and lowered her resistance to infection and stunted her growth.

People think that "oh nowadays we have drugs for allergies and asthma" but that is not the point. These drugs are expensive, a hassle, dangerous and not a cure. Take for example nasal sprays like Flonase. They cause cataracts (even in the young), glaucoma, diabetes, stunted growth in kids and lowered resistance to infection. Claritin causes cancer and any allergy med with the name "D" in it...like Allerga D and Claritin D messes up the rhythmns of the heart.

We shouldn't be so dependent upon drugs just to live and breathe. Modern man is declining in quailty...instead of evolving we are devolving all because people don't have common sense. If a horse had a condition, would you breed him? No. Then why breed with someone who has a condition or why breed yourself if you have one? In ancient times, people with such defects as your children would've been dead in childhood without the drugs used now to propel them along. Then, they would not pass on their defective genes to the next generation and the malady dies out and humanity becomes better and healthier. But, we started coming up with these drugs which are good to alleviate suffering but when they allow others to make more sufferers, therein lies the problem. If you truly cared about your precious babies as you said, you would've showed more common sense when procreating.

[Marcia]

My five year old has bad allergies, which she gets from me (I hate so see those dark circles and puffiness under her eyes, poor thing). What I am really, really hoping is that neither of our daughters inherit migraines from my husband. He got them from his mom and they are terrible. Please don't let either of my sweeties get that!

[Carol]

I have 4 kids and our of the 4, 3 have allergies. My oldest son has the seasonal allergies...and is also allergic to whole milk..
My youngest son who is 6 has allergic asthma and allergies. When we've taken him in for his checkups to get the allergy medicine regulated, they have always asked if he has eczema...and we wondered why?? Come to find out that someone having allergies as he does, (year round) that he'll develop eczema. (I'm hoping and praying that he doesn't develop that at all)
My husband has psorisis, eczema, asthma and the allergies. I just hope that my son will inherit the good genes from me. It's so hard to see my son suffer when the pollen is so high. He just suffers so much.
My youngest daughter is in the early stages of allergies and has been getting alot of colds lately. Of course the weather has been changing alot, so that could be it too, but I doubt it., but I do hope and pray that it's just the change of the weather and not the allergies.
I wish you the best and know that you're not alone in all this.

[Emily]

I've been extremely lucky,none of my children have severe allergies or skin conditions.I do have several neices and nephews that do,and it's no fun.Hopefully she will out-grow some of it and not have as hard a time as you did as a child.

[Kate]

My youngest also has eczema/asthma and multiple food allergies. My husband has food allergies, some slight eczema and asthma. His whole family has some form of allergies and eczema. I have asthma and allergies, but not to food. My older daughter has some allergies and asthma. We are a mess. LOL.
We discovered Olivia's allergies when she was roughly 10 months old. She was ALWAYS crying, constant reflux, covered in eczema.. it was a nightmare... Luckily, we found a great allergist, whom we adore, who helped us out tremendously when we were working out all the food allergy issues. We see him several times a year.
Whenever Olivia was exposed to or ate something she was allergic to, she would start wheezing or coughing and scratching. It might have taken several hours for these symptoms to start and it made it very difficult to track down exactly what was wrong. If you aren't going to one, I would seriously recommend bringing Lucie to an allergist and have them test her allergies. The testing sucks for them but it will really help bring about a conclusion for you and Lucie. Olivia is on several daily medications to help control her asthma and allergies. She also has a medic alert bracelet as she is anaphylactic to nuts, peanuts and ALL dairy. She is also allergic to fish and eggs. She attends preschool and she has 2 epi-pens and benedryl at the school, just in case. Luckily, the preschool is located inside an elementary school so there is a full time nurse on staff. ::knocking wood:: The preschool is very good able working around her allergies and I always volunteer to bring in food, help out, etc.. We have never had to give her a shot but I fear that one day I will.

Sorry about the long comment but just wanted to let you know that we are also in the same boat!

[Carmen]

I have six kids, and the older five have alleriges and asthma. They all have some varying degrees of eczema as well. The baby, well, it's too young to tell. :)

IFYP. The only advice I have is to be vigilant on the medication. It's my understanding that asthma untreated scars the lungs and causes more difficulty later in life.

[Robin]

I have had eczema my whole life. I am typing this to you while my scaly, shriveled skin is threatening to peel all over my keyboard. I have to refill my medicine....today!!!!! As a kid it was all over my hands and arms and my inner thighs and behind my knees! I would scratch in my sleep until I bled! Ya,,,fun! In my teens I would wake up in the middle of the night and hold my hands under hot tap water to make the itching stop. ok NOW I know it should've been COLD water but I didn't care as long as it stopped!!
Did I mention my mother DENIES I have had or still have eczema???? Just look at my hands. The doctor said I have "housewife's eczema" which means I am allergic to all soap and detergents. I work for a doctor's office so I am washing my hands all the time.
When Lillianna was an infant there was a little patch on her face. I begged the doctor, "Please tell me this is NOT eczema." She looked at me and said ,"Mommy, THAT is eczema." NO!!!!!!!!!!!
Fortunately she hasn't had any more outbreaks since then but I know it's in her future.

As for asthma. I have heard so much about athletes who have asthma and break all kinds of records.There is just so much available now. It's hard to watch your kids suffer like this but I believe the info is out there. Keep looking. Good luck!