High Intestinal Microbial Diversity Safeguards Against Allergies

From the 9 December 2011 Medical News Today article

High diversity and a variety of bacteria in the gut protect children against allergies as opposed to some individual bacterial genera. These are the findings of a comprehensive study of intestinal microflora (gut flora) in allergic and healthy children, which was conducted at Linköping University in Sweden.

One hypothesis is that our immune system encounters too few bacteria during childhood, which explains the increasing proportion of allergic children. However it has been difficult to substantiate the hypothesis scientifically.

“We conducted the study in collaboration with Karolinska Institute and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology which substantiates the so-called hygiene hypothesis. Children acquire intestinal microflora from their environment, and in our society they are probably exposed to insufficient bacteria that are necessary for the immune system to mature”, says Thomas Abrahamsson, paediatric physician and a researcher at Linköping University….

…

It is the composition of intestinal microflora during the first weeks of life that show signs of being critical to the immune system’s development. In the absence of sufficient stimuli from many different bacteria, the system may overreact against harmless antigens in the environment, such as foods. The risk of developing asthma at school age for children afflicted by these allergies is five to six times higher. 

Related Resources (via General Comprehensive Health Resources (Great Places to Start))

• Allergy (Medline Plus) with links to overviews, news items, diagnosis/treatments, prevention, research items, alternative therapies, tutorials, videos, and more
• Kids’Health- For Kids (Allergies, Asthma, and much more) Articles, movies, games and more on health topics, written especially for kids
• Kid’s Health- For Teens (Allergies, Asthma, and much more) Articles and resources on health topics, written especially for teens
• Allergies Center (eMedicine) Articles, images, quizzes and slideshows on many allergy topics
• Allergic Rhinitis (FamilyDoctor.org) Overview, symptoms, diagnosis/treatment,prevention
• Allergies (NetWellness) Related short articles, answers to commonly asked questions, additional information

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  “One of the most comprehensive studies to date of the microbes that are found in extremely low-birthweight infants found that hard-to-treat Candida fungus is often present, as well as some harmful bacteria and parasites

  Researchers at the Duke University Medical Center and Nicholas School of the Environment looked at the microbes in 11 premature infants and found much less diversity than in full-term infants.

  “The babies’ guts were taken over by microbes we know are dangerous if they get into the blood,” said senior author Patrick Seed, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics at Duke. “Even after the babies were no longer on antibiotics, healthier bacteria didn’t appear in the babies very quickly. This may be one reason why premature babies are so vulnerable to infections.”……

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• What Is a Drug Allergy? (everydayhealth.com)
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