Today is Father’s Day.  A day set aside to honor our fathers and their importance to our society on the third Sunday of June each year.  If you are reading this outside the US, the date varies.  But most countries and cultures set aside a day to commemorate the importance of fathers and fathering.

In the United States, the first father’s day was held in 1908 to remember the 210 men who died in the Monongah, West Virginia mining accident in 1907.  The idea came from a woman whose own mother died when she was young and was raised along with her 5 sibilings by her father.  This was a bit of an odditity in that era.  When women with children died, they were usually shuffled off to be raised by other female family members or the father re-married quickly.  Sonora Dodd realized how very special her father was and felt that all fathers should be celebrated.

If you have allergies, you can likely thank your father (or mother) because recent studies have indicated that there is a hereditary factory to allergy.  So if Dad (or Mom) has allergies there is a good chance their children will also have allergies. Now that doesn’t mean that the children will inherit the same allergies.  For example, Dad is allergic to dogs, which means it is likely his children will have allergies.  This is especially true if the Mom has allergies too.  But even if Dad and Mom are allergic to dogs, that doesn’t mean their children will be allergic to dogs.  Their children could be allergic to peanuts (although children who are breast-fed are less likely to develop food allergies) or dust mites and not necessarily dogs. 

My mother has never complained of allergy.  However, I remember my father (who passed away many years ago) would complain about recurrent sinus problems and sinus infections.  I have often wondered if those problems were caused by undiagnosed and uncontrolled allergy.  I guess we will never know.  I wasn’t diagnosed with allergies until I was grown and had two children of my own and didn’t make the connection at the time between my chronic fatigue and his chronic sinus problems.

So whether your allergies came from your Dad or not, take a moment to thank him for all he has done for you!

Til Next Time!

Cheryl
The Allergy Store