By Mae Chan
Guest Writer for Wake Up World
Originally published at preventdisease.com and reproduced here with permission.
A child’s risk of developing asthma is the smaller the more the microbiota of the child’s home resembles that of a farm house. This was shown by a study conducted by the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) that analysed indoor microbiota from 400 Finnish and 1,000 German homes.
Studies show that allergies are on the rise in developed countries, including the United States — not just seasonal allergies, but allergies of all kinds.
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Rodent studies have revealed that the composition of gut microbiota and its remodelling is associated with different diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, depression and autism spectrum disorders, but little research has been conducted on infants and children.
The hygiene hypothesis holds that, when babies’ exposure to germs is so limited, their immune systems are deprived of the opportunity to learn how to fend off pathogens properly…consequently their immune systems become so sensitive that the babies develop allergies.
Earlier research has shown that growing up on a farm with animals may as much as half the risk of asthma and allergies. The protective effect is thought to be attributable to the diverse microbial exposures encountered on farms.
“We now discovered that the presence of farm-like microbiota in an early-life home seemed to protect from asthma also in urban homes. The effect was not based on the presence of large number of different microbial species but, rather, differences in the relative abundance of certain bacterial groups,” says Pirkka Kirjavainen, Senior Researcher at THL.
Wearing Outdoor Shoes Indoors, The Number of Siblings and the Age of the House Play a Role
The study found that the microbiota in homes protecting from asthma contained a wealth of bacteria typical of the outdoor environment, including bacteria in soil. On the other hand, the proportion of microbes normally occurring in the human respiratory tract and associated with respiratory tract infections was small.
“The key characteristic of microbiota in homes protecting from asthma appears to be large abundance of bacteria which originate from the outdoor environment and are beneficial or harmless to health, relative to bacteria that are a potential threat to our health,” Kirjavainen comments.
In urban homes, factors that increased the farm-like features in the microbiota included wearing outdoor shoes indoors, the number of siblings and the age of the house; all factors that may increase transport ofoutdoor microbes into the home.
Asthma Is The Most Common Chronic Disease in Children in Finland – Can New Cases Be Prevented in the Future?
“It is interesting to see how clear of a protective effect indoor microbiota can have against the development of asthma. In contrast, it has been considerably more difficult to identify microbiota that would explain the detrimental effect of moisture damage on asthma,” says Professor Juha Pekkanen.
Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children in Finland as well as in many other countries, and its prevalence is increasing with urbanisation. The new study supports the view that children’s early exposure to ‘right cocktail’ of microbes may help their bodies to develop mechanisms protecting from asthma.
“The results suggest that asthma could be prevented in the future by modifying children’s early microbial exposures,” says Pekkanen.
The article entitled Farm-like indoor microbiota in non-farm homes protects children from asthma development by THL researchers was published in June in the renowned science magazine Nature Medicine.
Recommended articles by Mae Chan:
- An Anxiety ‘Epidemic’ Is Brewing
- Botanicals With Strong Cognitive Benefits
- Junk Food Eating Generations Can Pass Metabolic Disorders to Their Children
- 17 of the Most Under-Rated Medicinal Plants in the World
- Heart Disease Linked to Vitamin K Deficiency
- 9 Natural Alternatives to Ibuprofen/NSAIDs Without the Side Effects
- Vitamin D Improves Mood, Cognition and Pain Tolerance
- Eating Black Raspberries Significantly Lowers Cardiovascular Disease
- World’s Largest Solar Thermal Power Project Capable Of Providing Clean Energy To 140,000 Homes
- Hemp Seed Oil a Valuable Source of Bioactive Compounds for Food and Cosmetic Industry
About the author:
Mae Chan holds degrees in both physiology and nutritional sciences. She is also a blogger and and technology enthusiast with a passion for disseminating information about health.
You can follow Mae via preventdisease.com, where this article first appeared.
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