The Inheritance of Allergic Disease

Abstract

The articles published by the Annals of Eugenics (1925–1954) have been made available online as an historical archive intended for scholarly use. The work of eugenicists was often pervaded by prejudice against racial, ethnic and disabled groups. The online publication of this material for scholarly research purposes is not an endorsement of those views nor a promotion of eugenics in any way.

The inheritance of allergic disease

“…Moreover, statistical analysis of the authors' own findings (5) in family studies and data previously published lends additional support to the theory. One finding that remains to be explained is the excess of males over females among those developing allergic disease before puberty.…”

The Mode of Inheritance of Bronchial Asthma

“…V aughan (12) while critically analysing the findings of R atner and his co-workers, has cast serious doubts on the validity of their findings. V aughan firmly believes that heredity plays a part in the development of allergy and supports the theory of partial recessive inheritance put forward by W iener et al (13). The exact mechanism by which genetic factors operate is not fully understood.…”

“…Subsequently, Cooke and V ander V eer (5), Adkinson (1), Balyeat (2), Bray (4), W iener ct al. (13), Bowen (3), Schwartz (11) and several others have provided evidence to show that heredity plays a part in the development of respiratory allergy in general and asthma in particular.…”

Gene-Environment Interactions and Airway Disease in Children

“…Familial aggregation was probably first recognized by Sennertus in 1650. 43 Subsequent familial aggregation studies have examined the prevalence of a disease among the relatives of affected individuals versus control groups to determine the risk attributable to inheritance. In 1952, Schwartz 44 showed that relatives of probands with asthma had increased risk of developing asthma.…”