Adulting 101 (in Siberia)

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Kids who grow up in too-clean environments get allergies. The immune system demands something to fight.

There was a movement to shield infants from peanuts. Result : epidemic of peanut allergy.
 
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Hornbein said:
Kids who grow up in too-clean environments get allergies. The immune system demands something to fight.
+1 on that.

My son tries to maintain as sterile an environment as possible for his son. Drives me nuts. Kid's only three and he's already gotten sick several times.

My niece, on the other hand, is raising her 7 (or it may be 8 now) kids out in the country where they play in the dirt and help clean up after the cows and chickens and goats and pigs. They are all very healthy.
 
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phinds said:
+1 on that.

My son tries to maintain as sterile an environment as possible for his son. Drives me nuts. Kid's only three and he's already gotten sick several times.

My niece, on the other hand, is raising her 7 (or it may be 8 now) kids out in the country where they play in the dirt and help clean up after the cows and chickens and goats and pigs. They all very healthy.
The Helmhotz Institute Munich even invented a nice name for it: Farm-Effect.
Numerous epidemiological studies have shown that children who grow up on traditional farms are protected from asthma, hay fever and allergic sensitization.
https://www.helmholtz-munich.de/en/...ve shown,hay fever and allergic sensitization.
 
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fresh_42 said:
The Helmhotz Institute Munich even invented a nice name for it: Farm-Effect.
Farm-Effect or Send-the-Kids-Outside-to-Play-Effect?
 
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jrmichler said:
Farm-Effect or Send-the-Kids-Outside-to-Play-Effect?
I think Farm-Effect. Sending the kids outside in NYC probably hasn't the same effect. AFAIK hay, pollen, and contact with animals are crucial.


From the article (which is in English):
Early-life contact with livestock, especially contact to cow sheds as well as the consumption of unprocessed cow’s milk have been identified as the most effective protective exposures. Studies of the immunobiology of farm living point to activation and modulation of innate and adaptive immune responses especially by intense microbial exposures. Farms are environments that afford a wide range of microbial exposures.

About the reference:
Wikipedia said:
Helmholtz Zentrum München - Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH), also known as Helmholtz Munich, is one of Germany’s leading non-university centers for biomedical research. It operates as part of Helmholtz Health, the health research division within the Helmholtz Association, Germany's largest scientific organization. Helmholtz Munich primarily focuses on interdisciplinary research in the fields of environmental and metabolic diseases, spanning the full research spectrum from basic science to applied research. The center employs approximately 2,500 staff members (as of 2024) and is headquartered on a campus in northern Munich, covering an area of over 50 hectares.
 
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I have read that history contains no mention of hay fever before the 19th(?) century.