Breathing deeply...

[fajrdrako]

There's so much pollution in the air now that if it weren't for our lungs there'd be no place to put it all. - Robert Orben

This matches with an item I read in today's paper, where a researcher into allergies is tracing how many more people have allergies (and asthma) than ever before, especially in cities. They said that people, especially children, who live on farms have fewer allergies.

Seems self-evident to me. The pollution is mostly in cities. We're all breathing terrible chemicals. We've had thousands of years of acclimatization to the smell of horses and cows; not so the smell of cars and trucks. Whether we notice it or not.

Not that I think it's that simple, but reduced to basics, there it is. No real puzzle.

Another item said a research doctor theorized a negative correlation between allergies and cancers - these being the two opposites in the immune system's reaction to constant attack by pollutants. Makes sense to me.