Woth's post reminded me of today's article on WSJ. It also tells that dirt may help to reduce allergy. Actually I read similar reports before. (Sorry I cannot input Chinese because I am still working :-))
I've been reading this forum for a while, and really like it. Also it seems everybody is very good at debating, which demonstrates lots of energy due to obviously excellent health:-)
Below is WSJ's article:
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Infants are enchanting all over the world, as the new movie "Babies" shows. But their standards of hygiene sure vary.
The film captures the first year of life for four diverse babies. In a nomadic family in Namibia, Ponijao drinks from muddy streams, chews on dry bones and uses her many siblings' body parts as toys.
On a small family farm in Mongolia, a rooster struts around little Bayar's bed, a goat drinks from his bathwater and livestock serve as babysitters.
Aside from some really adorable footage, the movie "Babies" starkly illustrates the differences in hygiene standards around the world. WSJ's Melinda Beck says the documentary also raises the question whether its possible to be "too clean."
Journal Community
By contrast, Mari, growing up in high-rise, high-tech Tokyo, and Hattie, whose doting parents live a "green" lifestyle in San Francisco, both have modern conveniences and sanitation.
Statistically, Mari and Hattie are healthier. Some 42 out of 1,000 children in Namibia, and 41 out of 1,000 in Mongolia die before their 5th birthday; compared with only 8 in 1,000 in the U.S. and only 4 in Japan.
Yet the upscale urban infants are at higher risk for some health problems—including allergies, asthma and autoimmune diseases like Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease—than the babies in the rural developing world.
While the film makes no mention of hygiene in any of the countries, its images evoke an intriguing medical controversy: Are we too clean, with our preoccupation for hand-sanitizers, disinfectants and anti-microbial products? Now, there's research that suggests there may be a way to get the best of both worlds.
Peanut Allergies Increasing The Times of India
India Gets Own Vaccine for Swine FluReuters Health E-Line
Treating Kids' Food Allergies Access thousands of business sources not available on the free web. Learn More "We seem to be healthier, but we have traded one problem for another problem," says Joel Weinstock, chief of gastroenterology/heptology at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. Using the premise that exposure to a certain amount of dirt and germs carried by livestock may help the body build up resistance to disease, Dr. Weinstock is one of the lead researchers behind clinical trials using pig whipworm eggs to treat peanut allergies, MS and other autoimmune diseases.
According to the "hygiene hypothesis," first proposed in 1989, exposure to a variety of bacteria, viruses and parasitic worms early in life helps prime a child's immune system, much like sensory experiences program his brain. Without such early instruction, the immune system may go haywire and overreact with allergies to foods, pollen and pet dander or turn on the body's own tissue, setting off autoimmune disorders.
Many of these microorganisms evolved symbiotically with humans over millions of years—the so-called "old friends" theory. But where they've been eradicated, a key part of human development has been thrown off.
"The vast majority of microbes are harmless. There are only a few dozen that can cause lethal infections," says Thomas McDade, director of the Laboratory for Human Biology Research at Northwestern University.
Allergies and autoimmune diseases were virtually unknown in the U.S. before the turn of the last century, but they began to emerge as modern sanitation, decontaminated water, food refrigeration and antibiotics became more widespread. "There's a whole series of diseases that just emerged in the 20th century," says Dr. Weinstock.
In 1998, about 1 in 5 children in industrialized countries suffered from allergic diseases such as asthma, allergies and rashes, according to the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood, a global research initiative. The incidence of peanut allergy in the U.S. tripled between 1997 and 2008, according to a report from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.
But such diseases are still relatively rare in Africa and rural Asia, as are Type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.
The Power of Germs
Exposure to a variety of bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms may prime the immune system and protect against certain diseases.
Children who grow up on farms have low rates of allergies and asthma.Having one of more older siblings also protects against hay fever, asthma, multiple sclerosis and Type 1 diabetes.Autoimmune diseases are rare in rural Africa and Asia, but rise sharply when immigrants from those countries come to the developed world.Infants who attend day care during the first six months of life have a lower incidence of eczema and asthma.Rates of asthma are higher in West Germany than East Germany, even though air pollution is worse in the East. Type 1 diabetes is six times as prevalent in Finland as it is in neighboring Russia, although genetic backgrounds are similar.Source: Clinical & Experimental Immunology
"The geographical distribution of allergic and autoimmune diseases is a mirror image of the geographical distribution of various infections diseases," says a report by French researchers in a March issue of the journal Clinical & Experimental Immunology devoted to the hygiene hypothesis.
Exposure to immune-stimulating germs may also lower the risk of heart disease, according to Dr. McDade. In a study of 1,700 Filipinos followed from birth to age 21 published this year in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society, those who grew up around chicken, pigs and dogs and had bouts of diarrhea in childhood had lower rates of C-reactive protein, an inflammation marker that has been linked to cardiovascular disease, as young adults.
There are other dangers lurking in muddy water and animal feces. Nearly 70% of the 8.8 million deaths of children under age 5 worldwide in 2008 were caused by infectious diseases, most frequently pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria, according to an analysis in the Lancet last week.
Even though rural Africa and Asia have made enormous strides in public health in the past decade, infant mortality stands at 31 per 1,000 in Namibia and 34 per 1,000 in Mongolia, compared to 7 per 1,000 in the U.S. and 3 per 1,000 in Japan.
In Namibia, about one-quarter of children have stunted growth related to poor nutrition; about 120,000 children have lost one or both parents, predominantly to HIV/AIDS, and 26% of all women aged 15 to 49 have had at least one child die.
"Living more sanitarily may have increased asthma, but in terms of scale and impact, that's tiny compared with the benefit of not dying from disease for lack of hygiene," says Michael Bell, an infectious disease specialist and deputy director of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Some scientists are searching for ways to harness the immune-priming effects of microorganisms without the fatal diseases. Parasitic worms known as helminthes are leading the way.
Clinical trials are under way in the U.S. and Europe testing Trichuris Suis Ova (TSO)—-a species of pig whipworm—as a treatment for peanut allergies, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and MS. A study is being designed to test it with asthma. It's also being tested with adults who have autism, which some researchers believe could be related to immunological function.
View Full Image
China Photos/Getty Images
A vendor's baby sits amid the chickens at a market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
Preliminary studies seem promising: In one, when 29 patients with Crohn's disease, a disorder of the digestive tract, were given TSO every three weeks for six months, symptoms improved in 21 of them with no adverse side effects.
The ova are suspended in a liquid, invisible to the naked eye. "There's no taste, nothing to feel," says Dr. Weinstock, one of the early developers who could share in the proceeds if TSO proves successful. The microscopic eggs hatch into microscopic whipworms in the gastrointestinal tract, which interact with the host's immune system and can dampen an overactive immune response, he explains. To date, there have been few side effects, he says. "As far as we know, this agent doesn't cause diarrhea," he adds. "Nothing crawls out of you."
For those who fear the "ick" factor, Dr. Weinstock notes that even under normal conditions, people are teeming with microorganisms, which outnumber human cells by about 10 to 1, many of which are necessary for human health. Many foods—from yogurt to cheese to bread—also contain live bacteria and fungi.
Some daily products now widely advertise that they contain probiotics, or good bacteria. But most immunologists say that those in food products have not been sufficiently studied or standardized to draw scientific conclusions about what health benefits they provide.
Scientists are still working on ways to separate good germs from bad ones; in the meantime, they have a few insights: Studies have shown that children who grow up with household pets have fewer allergies and less asthma than those who don't.
The CDC's Dr. Bell says that people should be vigilant about wound care since bacteria can cause problems if it gets into the blood stream, and he still advocates hand-washing. "If you're not doing it 10 times a day, you're probably not doing it enough," he says. But he and other experts say that regular soap and water are fine in most cases. Sterilizing hands is critical mainly for health-care workers and in hospitals, where disease-causing germs are prevalent and can easily spread.
Many experts advise common sense. "We don't want to say to children, 'OK, play by the dirty river bank and catch whatever you can,' " says Dr. Weinstock. "But we can say there's nothing wrong with kids playing in the dirt. They don't have to live in total sanitation, and they won't die from eating something off the floor. It's probably more healthy than not."
Write to Melinda Beck at HealthJournal@wsj.com
I've been reading this forum for a while, and really like it. Also it seems everybody is very good at debating, which demonstrates lots of energy due to obviously excellent health:-)
Below is WSJ's article:
***********************
Infants are enchanting all over the world, as the new movie "Babies" shows. But their standards of hygiene sure vary.
The film captures the first year of life for four diverse babies. In a nomadic family in Namibia, Ponijao drinks from muddy streams, chews on dry bones and uses her many siblings' body parts as toys.
On a small family farm in Mongolia, a rooster struts around little Bayar's bed, a goat drinks from his bathwater and livestock serve as babysitters.
Aside from some really adorable footage, the movie "Babies" starkly illustrates the differences in hygiene standards around the world. WSJ's Melinda Beck says the documentary also raises the question whether its possible to be "too clean."
Journal Community
By contrast, Mari, growing up in high-rise, high-tech Tokyo, and Hattie, whose doting parents live a "green" lifestyle in San Francisco, both have modern conveniences and sanitation.
Statistically, Mari and Hattie are healthier. Some 42 out of 1,000 children in Namibia, and 41 out of 1,000 in Mongolia die before their 5th birthday; compared with only 8 in 1,000 in the U.S. and only 4 in Japan.
Yet the upscale urban infants are at higher risk for some health problems—including allergies, asthma and autoimmune diseases like Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease—than the babies in the rural developing world.
While the film makes no mention of hygiene in any of the countries, its images evoke an intriguing medical controversy: Are we too clean, with our preoccupation for hand-sanitizers, disinfectants and anti-microbial products? Now, there's research that suggests there may be a way to get the best of both worlds.
Peanut Allergies Increasing The Times of India
India Gets Own Vaccine for Swine FluReuters Health E-Line
Treating Kids' Food Allergies Access thousands of business sources not available on the free web. Learn More "We seem to be healthier, but we have traded one problem for another problem," says Joel Weinstock, chief of gastroenterology/heptology at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. Using the premise that exposure to a certain amount of dirt and germs carried by livestock may help the body build up resistance to disease, Dr. Weinstock is one of the lead researchers behind clinical trials using pig whipworm eggs to treat peanut allergies, MS and other autoimmune diseases.
According to the "hygiene hypothesis," first proposed in 1989, exposure to a variety of bacteria, viruses and parasitic worms early in life helps prime a child's immune system, much like sensory experiences program his brain. Without such early instruction, the immune system may go haywire and overreact with allergies to foods, pollen and pet dander or turn on the body's own tissue, setting off autoimmune disorders.
Many of these microorganisms evolved symbiotically with humans over millions of years—the so-called "old friends" theory. But where they've been eradicated, a key part of human development has been thrown off.
"The vast majority of microbes are harmless. There are only a few dozen that can cause lethal infections," says Thomas McDade, director of the Laboratory for Human Biology Research at Northwestern University.
Allergies and autoimmune diseases were virtually unknown in the U.S. before the turn of the last century, but they began to emerge as modern sanitation, decontaminated water, food refrigeration and antibiotics became more widespread. "There's a whole series of diseases that just emerged in the 20th century," says Dr. Weinstock.
In 1998, about 1 in 5 children in industrialized countries suffered from allergic diseases such as asthma, allergies and rashes, according to the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood, a global research initiative. The incidence of peanut allergy in the U.S. tripled between 1997 and 2008, according to a report from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.
But such diseases are still relatively rare in Africa and rural Asia, as are Type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.
The Power of Germs
Exposure to a variety of bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms may prime the immune system and protect against certain diseases.
Children who grow up on farms have low rates of allergies and asthma.Having one of more older siblings also protects against hay fever, asthma, multiple sclerosis and Type 1 diabetes.Autoimmune diseases are rare in rural Africa and Asia, but rise sharply when immigrants from those countries come to the developed world.Infants who attend day care during the first six months of life have a lower incidence of eczema and asthma.Rates of asthma are higher in West Germany than East Germany, even though air pollution is worse in the East. Type 1 diabetes is six times as prevalent in Finland as it is in neighboring Russia, although genetic backgrounds are similar.Source: Clinical & Experimental Immunology
"The geographical distribution of allergic and autoimmune diseases is a mirror image of the geographical distribution of various infections diseases," says a report by French researchers in a March issue of the journal Clinical & Experimental Immunology devoted to the hygiene hypothesis.
Exposure to immune-stimulating germs may also lower the risk of heart disease, according to Dr. McDade. In a study of 1,700 Filipinos followed from birth to age 21 published this year in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society, those who grew up around chicken, pigs and dogs and had bouts of diarrhea in childhood had lower rates of C-reactive protein, an inflammation marker that has been linked to cardiovascular disease, as young adults.
There are other dangers lurking in muddy water and animal feces. Nearly 70% of the 8.8 million deaths of children under age 5 worldwide in 2008 were caused by infectious diseases, most frequently pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria, according to an analysis in the Lancet last week.
Even though rural Africa and Asia have made enormous strides in public health in the past decade, infant mortality stands at 31 per 1,000 in Namibia and 34 per 1,000 in Mongolia, compared to 7 per 1,000 in the U.S. and 3 per 1,000 in Japan.
In Namibia, about one-quarter of children have stunted growth related to poor nutrition; about 120,000 children have lost one or both parents, predominantly to HIV/AIDS, and 26% of all women aged 15 to 49 have had at least one child die.
"Living more sanitarily may have increased asthma, but in terms of scale and impact, that's tiny compared with the benefit of not dying from disease for lack of hygiene," says Michael Bell, an infectious disease specialist and deputy director of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Some scientists are searching for ways to harness the immune-priming effects of microorganisms without the fatal diseases. Parasitic worms known as helminthes are leading the way.
Clinical trials are under way in the U.S. and Europe testing Trichuris Suis Ova (TSO)—-a species of pig whipworm—as a treatment for peanut allergies, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and MS. A study is being designed to test it with asthma. It's also being tested with adults who have autism, which some researchers believe could be related to immunological function.
View Full Image
China Photos/Getty Images
A vendor's baby sits amid the chickens at a market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
Preliminary studies seem promising: In one, when 29 patients with Crohn's disease, a disorder of the digestive tract, were given TSO every three weeks for six months, symptoms improved in 21 of them with no adverse side effects.
The ova are suspended in a liquid, invisible to the naked eye. "There's no taste, nothing to feel," says Dr. Weinstock, one of the early developers who could share in the proceeds if TSO proves successful. The microscopic eggs hatch into microscopic whipworms in the gastrointestinal tract, which interact with the host's immune system and can dampen an overactive immune response, he explains. To date, there have been few side effects, he says. "As far as we know, this agent doesn't cause diarrhea," he adds. "Nothing crawls out of you."
For those who fear the "ick" factor, Dr. Weinstock notes that even under normal conditions, people are teeming with microorganisms, which outnumber human cells by about 10 to 1, many of which are necessary for human health. Many foods—from yogurt to cheese to bread—also contain live bacteria and fungi.
Some daily products now widely advertise that they contain probiotics, or good bacteria. But most immunologists say that those in food products have not been sufficiently studied or standardized to draw scientific conclusions about what health benefits they provide.
Scientists are still working on ways to separate good germs from bad ones; in the meantime, they have a few insights: Studies have shown that children who grow up with household pets have fewer allergies and less asthma than those who don't.
The CDC's Dr. Bell says that people should be vigilant about wound care since bacteria can cause problems if it gets into the blood stream, and he still advocates hand-washing. "If you're not doing it 10 times a day, you're probably not doing it enough," he says. But he and other experts say that regular soap and water are fine in most cases. Sterilizing hands is critical mainly for health-care workers and in hospitals, where disease-causing germs are prevalent and can easily spread.
Many experts advise common sense. "We don't want to say to children, 'OK, play by the dirty river bank and catch whatever you can,' " says Dr. Weinstock. "But we can say there's nothing wrong with kids playing in the dirt. They don't have to live in total sanitation, and they won't die from eating something off the floor. It's probably more healthy than not."
Write to Melinda Beck at HealthJournal@wsj.com
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