Allergies

The information gathered and reported on by David made me think of an article I read in "Science Illustrated" a couple of months ago.  I was flipping through the pages and came across some information on seasonal allergies, or hay fever.  The biggest debate right now is whether hay fever is an adaptation of our normal bodies or our normal bodies that have not adapted to non hay fever sufferers.  Scientists are on both sides of the argument and have some interesting things to say about hay fever as evolutionary progress.  It is said that when our bodies go into a field, or a basement that has a lot of toxins in it our bodies mucus membranes work over time to flush out those toxins, hay fever.   This flushing of the body helps get rid of pollens, bacterias, virus's, and even cancer causing toxins.  Many people try to cover up the symptoms of hay fever or eliminate them by medication or other types of allergy blockers.  The scientists also say that people with bad hay fever have the natural ability to fight off many types of cancer, including lung cancer.  They looked at people with lung cancer and found that people without seasonal allergies were twice as numerous as those with.  An interesting thought, but one that I don't believe has been researched a lot. 

I know the article was not on the same subject as neurochemistry, or even chemistry at all, but my the ideas of our bodies having innate abilities that we do not understand seems similar in many ways.  It makes me wonder what else our bodies are hiding from us, how else have we adapted over the years, and with the movement of people from the fields and mountains into the technological revolution what will be found in the next five to ten years.  It is an exciting time to be alive and have all this science to help us understand the world around us. 

Sorry this weeks post was so short, I will do better next week.