• Question: i am now allergic to horses and i have had them my whole life but i never used to be, how come you can just suddenly be allergic to something that you werent before. aparenlty it changes every 7 years or so, is that true???

    Asked by woody4 to Suzie, Sheila, Rob, Geoff, Adam on 21 Mar 2011 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Adam Tuff

      Adam Tuff answered on 17 Mar 2011:

      I’m completely the opposite! I used to be really allergic to pets, but now I’m ok. The whole “seven years” thing I’ve heard before, and people have said it’s because you regenerate new cells and they don’t have the tollerance of your old ones…but I don’t think there is any scientific evidence for that.
      I don’t actually know, and I don’t think anyone knows!

    • Photo: Sheila Kanani

      Sheila Kanani answered on 17 Mar 2011:

      Thats interesting, my sister was never alergic to our cats but now she is, so maybe the same thing happened to her!
      I don’t know about it changing every 7 years but I think it can change due to really subtle things like hormones and also like maybe there are different types of plants that your horse encounters now that they didn’t before, and actually you are alergic to those plants not the horses?

    • Photo: Suzie Sheehy

      Suzie Sheehy answered on 18 Mar 2011:

      I have to start by saying I don’t study allergies and should probably just leave it at that – but I can sympathise with you because I have allergies to lots of things including horses and dogs and cats. I also grew up with them and now I’m allergic…
      I’m not sure how it works (we’re probably in the wrong zone for that!) but maybe it’s something you could look into at school?

    • Photo: Robert Simpson

      Robert Simpson answered on 21 Mar 2011:

      I don’t know about the 7 years things. As you grow, you change. The way you live life and your environment can change things like your immune system. There are people that become intolerant of certain food only to be able to eat them years later. I’m sorry you are now allergic to horses though – that must be difficult.

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