Hypotheses Explaining the Allergy Epidemic

Among several non-communicable chronic inflammatory conditions that have been on the rise during the last century, allergies stand out, as those exploding from rare to almost ubiquitous. A number of hypotheses have been put forward to explain this unprecedented increase. While microbial exposures are currently prevailing, changes in lifestyle, climate, food habits, pollution and home environment, may have had substantial contributions and have not been deserted. These hypotheses, whose common denominator is the interaction of our immune system with a changing environment, have the potential to offer insights into the overall effects of human-induced environmental changes on current and future health, also sketching a contour of meta-physiology.



This Research Topic aims to gather perspectives of key opinion leaders and visionaries, as well as hypothesis-generating findings, on the events that have driven - and continue to drive - the Allergy Epidemic!

Keywords: Microbial Exposures, Allergies, Lifestyle, Climate, Food habits, Pollution, Environment, Epidemic

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