[News release] An International Team of Researchers Discover Strong Association Between Lifestyles of Indigenous Communities and Gut Microbial Ecologies

From the 25 March 2015 University of Oklahoma news release

…the team presents an in-depth analysis of the gut microbiome of the Matses, an Amazonian hunter-gatherer community, which is compared with that of the village of Tunapunco, who are highland small-scale farmers, as well as with urban city-dwellers in Norman, Okla.

In comparing the three groups to previously published studies in Africa and South America, the team observed a striking trend.  Human gut microbiota cluster together based on subsistence strategy more than geographic proximity.  Thus, hunter-gatherers in South America and Africa are more similar to each other than either are to rural agriculturalists or to urban-industrialists, even from neighboring populations.

It is now well accepted that human gut microbiomes are actively involved in health and that changes in our gut microbes from living more sanitized, industrialized lifestyles, has led to susceptibility to certain autoimmune disorders like asthma and allergies.

Also, it has become clear that industrialization has led to a decrease in gut microbiome diversity.  Moreover, in the gut of industrialized peoples, one particular bacteria genus is conspicuously absent, Treponema.  These bacteria have co-existed with humans and other primates for millions of years, so their absence in industrialized people is disconcerting.

…

Great-Grandmother’s Cigarette Habit Could Be the Cause of Child’s Asthma

Smoking warning (Photo credit: Eva the Weaver)

The day after I published this, I answered a related question about busyness at Quora.

Resources that were included in the answer are listed below.

 

 

From the 5 August 2013 article at Science Daily

With some 300 million people around the world living with asthma, a study by Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed) researchers that was released ahead-of- print found for the first time that maternal smoking can cause the third generation of offspring to suffer from the chronic lung disease.

The study, published online by theAmerican Journal of Physiology — Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology, reported that maternal nicotine exposure during pregnancy is linked to asthma in the third generation in disease models. This is known as a “transgenerational” linkage because the third generation was never directly exposed to nicotine or smoking. Previous research had found nicotine exposure was linked to asthma in the second generation, or was a “multigenerational” cause of asthma.

“Even though there are multiple causes for childhood asthma, research linking this serious chronic condition to maternal nicotine exposure during pregnancy for up to three generations should give mothers-to-be even more reasons to reconsider smoking,” said Virender K. Rehan, MD, an LA BioMed lead researcher and the corresponding author of the study. “Eliminating the use of tobacco during pregnancy could help halt the rise in childhood asthma and ensure healthier children for generations to come.”

…

The current study “paves the way for determining the epigenetic mechanisms” behind smoking and the transmission of asthma to future generations, the researchers concluded.

Want to learn more about epigenetic? Here’s some good Web sites

• Learn Epigenetics (University of Utah)

• HowStuffWorks “How Epigenetics Works” (How stuff works)

• Epigenetics (National Institutes of Health)

 

Read the entire article here

 

Related Psychiatric/Psychologic/Counseling Resources (via MedlinePlus)

• Mental Health Providers: Tips on Finding One(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Psychotherapies(National Institute of Mental Health)
• Therapy and Counseling(American Academy of Family Physicians)

 

Related articles

• Maternal Smoking Linked to Asthma in the Third Generation: LA BioMed Researchers (medindia.net)
• Probiotics During Pregnancy May Lower Allergy Risk In Newborns, But Doesn’t Impact Risk For Asthma (medicaldaily.com)
• Asthma Attacks Surge During Back-to-School Time, Doctors Warn (livescience.com)

Children’s Environmental Health (Informative Web Page with Links from the US CDC)

From the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Children’s Environmental Health Web site

The environment affects children differently than adults. Because their bodies are still growing, children are at greater risk if they are exposed to environmental contaminants. Contaminants are anything that can cause something to become unclean, polluted, or not pure. They can be found anywhere and some are unsafe. A toddler playing in dirt contaminated with high levels of lead can become sick from lead poisoning. A child with asthma playing outside when the air quality is bad may have an asthma attack. Environmental hazards are not just outside, but can also be found inside a child’s home or school. Children living in older homes with lead-based paint can get sick from breathing lead dust or swallowing chipping paint. Drinking water from a private well and even a community water system is also a concern if it’s contaminated. Bacteria and other harmful chemicals can be a threat to anyone’s health, but especially to young children.

Click here for the Daily Air Quality Forecast

Related articles

• Organizations Urge Parents To Protect Children From Lead Poisoning (philadelphia.cbslocal.com)
• CDC Warns Laundry Detergent Pods Pose Health Risk (wibw.com)
• EPA Spends $1.2 Million to Provide ‘Asthma-Friendly Homes’ Training (cnsnews.com)

Mortality And Morbidity Could Be Significantly Reduced By Lowering The National Ozone Standard

http://www.epa.gov/airquality/greenbook/map8hrnm.html

[Green Book of Nonattainment areas for Criteria Pollutants, EPA, March 2012]

From the 19th July 2012 article at Medical News Today

Establishing a more stringent ozone standard in the U.S. would significantly reduce ozone-related premature mortality and morbidity, according to a new study published online in the journalEnvironmental Health Perspectives.

“Abundant evidence links exposure to ozone with adverse health effects, including impaired pulmonary function, asthmaexacerbations, increased hospital and emergency room visits, and increased mortality, yet the current National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 75ppb is often exceeded,” said lead author Jesse Berman, a PhD candidate at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Our study shows that adhering to the current standard would result in a significant reduction in morbidity and mortality and, furthermore, that applying even more stringent ozone standards would result in even greater reductions.” ..

Related articles

• Lowering the national ozone standard would significantly reduce mortality and morbidity (phys.org)
• Ozone spikes unusually high. Officials ponder why. (blogs.courier-journal.com)
• Community Response Urged Amid High Ozone Levels (kake.com)
• Wichita ozone levels top allowable limit (kansas.com)
• Large Eruptions Could Eat Away at Ozone Layer (sott.net)
• More ozone violations (blogs.courier-journal.com)

How Kids With Asthma Are Stigmatized By The Media

Larger image at http://www.flickr.com/photos/43157614@N06/4071755333                                                       Asthma in America (Photo credit: GDS Infographics)

 

 

 

My consciousness has been raised…

If anyone has a related story/personal account to share, please do!

From the 14 June 2012 Medical News Today article

This summer, superheroes like Spider-Man, Batman, and even Snow White will showcase their staggering strengths on the big screen.

A Rutgers-Camden professor says that children with asthma are the real-life superheroes, facing down breathlessness and operating life-saving devices whenever and wherever asthma attacks strike.

Cindy Dell Clark, who teaches anthropology at Rutgers-Camden, recently published research that analyzes Hollywood’s portrayal of children with asthma in the journal Medical Anthropology Quarterly.

According to Clark, Hollywood often depicts children with asthma, the leading chronic illness of U.S. children, as vulnerable characters, not heroes. Showcasing asthma as a form of weakness adds drama to action films and levity to comedies. The habit of stereotyping asthma in movies, her research suggests, should be rethought by Hollywood and its writers.

Clark says the media, as well as other social contexts like school and peers, matter significantly for how the 9% of Americans under 18 with asthma view their illness and commit to its treatment…

Related articles

• Children with asthma marginalized in movies, says Rutgers-Camden researcher (eurekalert.org)
• Exercise-induced Asthma (michaelviggars.com)
• The Anatomy of an Asthma Attack (everydayhealth.com)
• Web-based tool helps parents improve on kids’ asthma treatment (medicalxpress.com)
• Asthma Treatment/Inhalers (newmexicosinusinstitute.com)
• Stress: A Serious Asthma Trigger (everydayhealth.com)
• Following an Asthma Action Plan (everydayhealth.com)
• What is Asthma? (newmexicosinusinstitute.com)
• The Top 10 Worst Cities in the U.S. for Asthma in 2012 (treehugger.com)

Loss Of Biodiversity May Lead To Increase In Allergies And Asthma

Biodiversity (Photo credit: Dom Dada)

From the 9 May 2012 article at Medical News Today

Declining biodiversity may be contributing to the rise of asthma, allergies, and other chronic inflammatory diseases among people living in cities worldwide, a Finnish study suggests. Emerging evidence indicates that commensal microbes inhabiting the skin, airway, and gut protect against inflammatory disorders. However, little is known about the environmental determinants of the microbiome.

Ilkka Hanski et al. from the Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, investigated whether reduced human contact with nature and biodiversity influences the composition of commensal skin bacteria and allergen sensitivity in a random sample of 118 teenagers living in eastern Finland. The authors found that subjects living on farms or near forests had more diverse bacteria on their skin and lower allergen sensitivity than individuals living in areas with less environmental biodiversity, such as urban areas or near bodies of water. …

Related articles

• Biodiversity loss may cause increase in allergies and asthma (eurekalert.org)
• Conservation Is Important — For The Sake Of Our Health (huffingtonpost.com)
• Backyard Biodiversity May Stem Allergies (sott.net)
• The Great Outdoors Is Good for Allergies (news.sciencemag.org)
• Biodiversity loss may cause increase in allergies and asthma (medicalxpress.com)
• Rural living may prevent allergies – biodiversity aids immune system (examiner.com)
• Rural life may boost allergy resistance (sciencenews.org)
• Exposure to Wide Variety of Microbes May Reduce Allergies (science.slashdot.org)
• Lack of Contact With Natural World Means More City-Dwellers Developing Allergies, Asthma (treehugger.com)

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

Related articles

• Dirt may be the best thing for you (bio230fall2010.wordpress.com)

• Premature Babies Harbor Fewer, but More Dangerous Microbe Types (ScienceDaily (Dec. 8, 2011)

  “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.”……

• Not Just for Kids: Understanding Adult-Onset Allergies (everydayhealth.com)
• Lactose Intolerance: More Common as You Age (everydayhealth.com)
• What Is a Drug Allergy? (everydayhealth.com)
• Little Girls’ Excellent Hygiene Actually Might Make Them Sick (bellasugar.com)
• Infant’s exposure to germs linked to lower allergy risk (ctv.ca)
• Dirt prevents allergy? (junkscience.com)
• Early encounter to bacteria prevents kids from allergy risk in later life (news.bioscholar.com)

We Are What We Breathe: The Impacts of Air Pollution on Employment and Productivity – Up Front Blog – Brookings Institution

Excerpts from the report
We Are What We Breathe: The Impacts of Air Pollution on Employment and Productivity – Up Front Blog – Brookings Institution

The Impact of Air Pollution on Health and Productivity
Air pollutants are linked to higher rates of infant mortality, increased frequencies of low birth weight, greater risks of asthma attacks and other forms of respiratory sickness, and premature mortality among adults. The incidence of low birth weight has been associated with higher health care costs and reduced earnings later in life. More broadly, good health is also a requisite for being productive on the job, and thus air pollution also affects employment and productivity.

In an intriguing new paper, elevated ozone concentrations, even at levels well below current federal air quality standards, was found to reduce productivity of farm workers in California. Another study found that higher carbon monoxide concentrations result in increased school absences.

In short, air pollution has a direct impact on the health and productivity of today’s and tomorrow’s work force.

Related articles

• Shanghai air pollution reaches record levels – how to track air quality around the world (environmentaleducationuk.wordpress.com)
• Half of US population breathes polluted air: report (news.bioscholar.com)
• Asthma in the US: Growing Every Year (cdc.gov)
• The Link Between Air Pollution and Asthma (everydayhealth.com)

Release of MCHL new ediition of Asthma in Children and Adolescents

From the National Network of Libraries of Medicine-Greater Midwest Region (NN/LM-GMR) news item:

The Maternal and Child Health Library at Georgetown University released a new edition of a knowledge path about asthma in children and adolescents, its prevalence, and its impact on homes, schools, and communities.  The knowledge path includes tools for improving asthma management and care and staying abreast of new developments in pediatric asthma research. The knowledge path can be used by health professionals, program administrators, policymakers, researchers, and community advocates to learn more about asthma, for program development, and to locate training resources and information to answer specific questions. Separate sections point to resources about environmental triggers, medications and monitoring, and asthma management in school. The knowledge path is available at http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/kp_asthma.html. A resource brief for families accompanies the knowledge path and is available at http://www.mchlibrary.info/families/frb_asthma.html.

 

Related news article

Many with Asthma, Emphysema May Misuse Inhalers

Severe asthma in early childhood may lead to premature loss of lung function during adolescence and more serious disease during adulthood, researchers at Emory University School of Medicine report.

Breath sensor predicts an asthma attack the day before

Asthma’s Lifelong Impact on Health

World’s most advanced system to help Aussie researchers detect and analyze rare cells

From the November 23, 2010 Eureka news alert

New flow cytometer will help in fight against cancer, asthma, cardiovascular, autoimmune and infectious diseases

A world-first research system to be launched today at the Centenary Institute will give medical researchers in Australia a new weapon in the fight against cancer and other life-threatening diseases. The new BD LSR-9 Flow Cytometer with its nine lasers will be the first user-operated flow cytometer with unprecedented ability to detect and analyse rare cells.

The BD LSR9 Flow Cytometer will be housed at the Centenary Institute as part of the Advanced Cytometry Facility (ACF), which is a joint venture run by the Centenary Institute, the University of Sydney and the Bosch Institute.

Advanced Cytometry Facility Academic Director Professor Nick King said: “Currently, a researcher may have to run a sample of cells two or three times using complex labelling systems to analyse all the unique characteristics of a cell. This makes it very difficult to detect rare cell populations. It’s like a detective at a crime scene gathering two or three sets of partial fingerprints then having to cobble them together to get a complete fingerprint….

…

About Flow Cytometry

A flow cytometer allows researchers to rapidily analyse large populations of cells. Individual cells are examined and a wide variety of properties of each cell can be recorded. Researchers tag the cell populations with fluorescent dyes and then use the flow cytometer to a pass the cells through a beam of laser light one at a time. This laser light is scattered by the cells and provides a way to measure physical properties of the cell such as size. The laser also excites the different fluorescent dyes attached to cells. These dyes produce light of different colours and allow the researchers to count and analyse the cell types that are present. By examining the cells one by one, researchers can find minute characteristics of the cells to get an accurate profile of rare disease-causing cells.

###

About the Centenary Institute: The Centenary Institute is an independent medical research institute, affiliated with Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the University of Sydney. Our unique blend of highly skilled staff and state-of-the art equipment and facilities has allowed us to become world leaders in three critical areas of medical research – cancer, cardiovascular disease and infectious diseases. For further information about the Centenary Institute, visit www.centenary.org.au

Poor Diet May Make COPD Worse, Study Finds

From a November 2, 2010 Health Day news item By Robert Preidt

TUESDAY, Nov. 2 (HealthDay News) — Certain vitamin deficiencies may lead to decreased lung function in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis, says a new study……

…..”Further studies are needed to clarify the role gender has on the loss of lung function in COPD and the impact of antioxidant nutrient intake,” Khan said.

Khan added that antioxidants might also benefit people with severe asthma.

“We would guess that the role of antioxidant nutrients in a well-controlled asthma patient would be less than that seen in patients with COPD,” Khan said. “However, in patients with severe asthma with poorly controlled symptoms and frequent, recurring exacerbations, antioxidant nutrient intake may indeed play an important role in the preservation of lung function.”…

……”Our study, along with other research, suggests that strategies for dietary modification and supplementation should be considered in patients with COPD,” Dr. M. Salman Khan of Akron City Hospital, Ohio, said in an ACCP news release.

….The study was to be presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) in Vancouver, Canada….

…..COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in America, with 119,000 deaths annually, according to the ACCP.

SOURCE: American College of Chest Physicians, news release, Nov. 2, 2010

A good place to start for nutrition information….

Nutrition.gov “Providing easy, online access to government information on food and human nutrition
for consumers. A service of the (US)National Agricultural Library, USDA.”