Monique
May30-04, 12:55 PM
NewScientist (http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995047)
The increasing use of antibiotics to treat disease may be responsible for the rising rates of asthma and allergies. By upsetting the body's normal balance of gut microbes, antibiotics may prevent our immune system from distinguishing between harmless chemicals and real attacks.
"The microbial gut flora is an arm of the immune system," says Gary Huffnagle at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbour. His research group has provided the first experimental evidence in mice that upsetting the gut flora can provoke an allergic response.
continued.. (http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995047)
Previously clean house holds and diet were blamed, where people growing up in a farm are less likely to develop asthma. This is the first experimental confirmation that antibiotics in fact play a role too. I guess you need to drink a lot of bacterial fortified yoghurts after an antibiotic treatment to reestablish a healthy microflora :)
Did anyone hear about how worms have been show to aleviate symptoms of inflamatory bowel disease? Apparently we don't carry enough parasites with us either.. They recently have started clinical trials on humans, giving them worm eggs to eat.. also a good thing to combat obesity :)
The increasing use of antibiotics to treat disease may be responsible for the rising rates of asthma and allergies. By upsetting the body's normal balance of gut microbes, antibiotics may prevent our immune system from distinguishing between harmless chemicals and real attacks.
"The microbial gut flora is an arm of the immune system," says Gary Huffnagle at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbour. His research group has provided the first experimental evidence in mice that upsetting the gut flora can provoke an allergic response.
continued.. (http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995047)
Previously clean house holds and diet were blamed, where people growing up in a farm are less likely to develop asthma. This is the first experimental confirmation that antibiotics in fact play a role too. I guess you need to drink a lot of bacterial fortified yoghurts after an antibiotic treatment to reestablish a healthy microflora :)
Did anyone hear about how worms have been show to aleviate symptoms of inflamatory bowel disease? Apparently we don't carry enough parasites with us either.. They recently have started clinical trials on humans, giving them worm eggs to eat.. also a good thing to combat obesity :)