Problem is of course that it's not always possible to know long term effects when you make a decision on some more immediate benefit. So it's not like you're ev

Problem is of course that it's not always possible to know long term effects when you make a decision on some more immediate benefit. So it's not like you're even making an informed trade-off. As an example, I'd wager that the rise in childhood asthma/allergies is related to something that was thought to be (and maybe actually is) beneficial for children's health in the short term. When I was a kid, there were a few people I knew of who had chronic issues with asthma and allergies but it seemed pretty unusual. Today, it seems like half the kids on my kids sport teams have inhalers or epi-pens or both.