Have allergies/asthma?

[Dr Mordrid]

Could be because you were brought up in a too clean environment and also have a certain form of one gene;

The study hints at how exposure to the hepatitis A virus reduces the risk of developing allergies as much as fourfold. It finds that two-thirds of Caucasians carry a long version of the gene TIM-1 that renders them less likely to develop asthma and eczema after exposure to hepatitis A virus than people with the normal gene.

"The long version may help the virus enter the cell more efficiently," says Dale Umetsu from Stanford University in California, who led the study. This may alter the way the immune system responds to irritants such as pollen and dust.

Nature article.....

Stanford Report article....

Dr. Mordrid

[DentyCracker]

I have long felt that some exposure to germs is necessary for the development of a good immune response. Was just based on anecdotal evidence though.

[RhinoZ]

Sorry, but I don't believe in the saying " What doesn't kill you makes you stronger"
But I do believe in the saying "You are what you eat" And I think that's where most of the problem comes from. Foods are not as nutrioius(sp) or full with as much vitamins as they were when we were kids. So when you ate an apple a day to keep the doctor away when we were kids, you now need to eat maybe a half a dozen apples.

[VJ]

Well, I have heard the expression: "Please sneeze on my child"... Of course, this should not be taken literally, but there is something to say for letting the immunesystem develop properly by not living in too clean an environment.


Jörg

[J1NG]

Damn, I must have the immune system equivalent of Wolverine then.

J1NG

[Marshmallowman]

Can't remember where I saw it, but not to long ago they found something similar when young children exposed to pets were also less likely to develop allergies.

[Dr Mordrid]

I read the same thing...lesseeee.....oh yeah, here it is;

http://www.niaid.nih.gov/newsroom/releases/petallergyrsk.htm

"The striking finding here is that high pet exposure early in life appears to protect against not only pet allergy but also other types of common allergies, such as allergy to dust mites, ragweed, and grass," says Marshall Plaut, M.D., chief of the allergic mechanisms section at NIAID. "Other studies have suggested a protective effect of pet exposure on allergy and asthma symptoms, but generally have looked only at whether pet exposure reduced pet allergy. This new finding changes the way scientists think about pet exposure; scientists must now figure out how pet exposure causes a general shift of the immune system away from an allergic response."

In their paper, lead author Dennis R. Ownby, M.D., of the Medical College of Georgia, and colleagues suggest that bacteria carried by pets may be responsible for suppressing the immune system's allergic response. These bacteria release molecules called endotoxins, and endotoxins are believed to shift the developing immune system away from responding to allergens through a class of lymphocytes called Th-2 cells, which are associated with allergic reactions. Instead, endotoxins may stimulate the immune system to activate Th-1 cells, which may block allergic reactions.

Dr. Mordrid

[Paddy]

Makes sense to me

[DukeP]

Good news, I believe.

The amount of allergies in todays youth is really, really bad..

Heck, I cant even take my YouthSchool out for a run and tussle in the grass, half of them would suffocate within minutes.
Poor bastards.

~~DukeP~~

[Dr Mordrid]

Imagine what it was like for us asthmatics back when there were few, if any, effective treatments that wouldn't throw you into instant tachycardia (epinephrine injections etc.).

Worse yet was when you got "it's all in his/her head" act from some moron who slept through the classes on allergy management.

Dr. Mordrid