Parasites are good for you!

[drscott]

In line with other revisionist memes coming out of evolutionary biology, we have this, (via advicegoddess.com, which has lots of other good reading.) And don't read it while eating, since there's discussion of adding worms to the diet of victims of inflammatory bowel diseases. It seems the "progressive" elimination of parasites and bacteria in the environment of children actually does them some harm, since rates of asthma, allergies, and other disorders of the immune system rise dramatically among children who grow up in overly sanitized environments. Which backs up my contention that the 30 second rule for eating stuff that falls on the floor applies, and worrying about catching skin diseases from contact with gym surfaces is pointless (unless you're immune-deficient.) As I was telling our last visitor, I live as one with the community of microorganisms around me. Their tiny screams as you apply disinfectant haunt my psyche.

Comments

[sunsmogseahorse.livejournal.com]

I think there may be some truth to that but I don't see much evidence of it there. It's more like speculation.

This is like that hippie sensibility of not getting your kids immunized.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Not really. It's analogous to what happens to children who are overly protected in other ways -- they tend not to develop any armor or independence. Graduated challenges strengthen people (and immune systems.) If given little tuning, the immune system will tend not be properly tuned and can over-respond to harmless stimuli.

The anti-vaccine people are mostly wrong, believing that vaccines are harmful in themselves -- a heavy anti-technology paranoia. Human intervention via vaccines helps limit harm and points the immune system at the most catastrophic diseases.

[imageartifacts.livejournal.com]

Came across you via the LJ rabbit's hole. I have Crohn's disease, and am on Remicade, and really want to be off it. I'm hopeful that this study turns out to be validated, though it'll take forever, if ever, for the FDA to authorize use.

I grew up in the country and we farmed, so I was exposed to a lot of stuff. I also had insane allergies, and couldn't get close to a large body of water without getting sick.

I continue to feel like the root of the problem is being missed. It's frustrating.

You are absolutely right.

[anziulewicz.livejournal.com]

Kids NEED to get dirty. They NEED to play in the woods, share toys, and get innoculated with all the germs that pervade our environment. How else are they supposed to build strong, health immune systems? But try telling that to the companies that market disinfectant wipes and sprays. They've succeeded in convincing too many parents that if they allow their children to play with some other child's toy without first sterilizing it will some kind of Clorox Handi-Wipe, they are putting their children in DANGER ... meaning, of course, that they are BAD PARENTS.

[markbuster.livejournal.com]

The tiny screams of microbiotica do not bother me (because I am a sociopath at heart), however it important to understand SOME micro 101 before capriciously eliminating an aspect of a homeostatic population. Somehow humans have survived with all the little microbes around and in them, why would someone think things would be better to remove them?
An excellent other example is that silly anti-microbe hand gel & soap that people use. The normal flora on our skin is harmless to us, and it serves as a physical and chemical barrier to more dangerous things, which we do not have a simbiotic relationship with.

Bingo....

[sfmini.livejournal.com]

... I've been saying this for years.

All this antibacterial this and antibacterial that is going to do nothing but make the really bad organisms resistant to anything that can (or could) fight it and make our bodies so used to having nothing to fight against that it builds no defenses against anything.

Every cold, every respiratory infection every case of stomach "flu" builds our defenses to handle the next attack that much better and if that next attack is a serious one it might make the difference between survival and not.

[pklexton.livejournal.com]

I find stuff like this fascinating. Puritanistic tendencies can absolutely lead us to do things that put our environment out of balance. I have two other anecdotes in this vein. I recall several years ago the Danish pork industry actually had to relax their sanitary standards because raising the pigs in near hospital-like antiseptic conditions resulted in meat that had very little flavor. I also recall working on an IPO for a company that was developing a vaccine for an autoimmune disease that worked by "turning off" a gene (at least as far as I understood it). When one of the scientists told me that the vaccine would only be marketed to people who met a certain risk profile for the disease, I asked why any one would want to limit the market for their product. Why not sell the vaccine to everyone? The answer I got back had nothing to do with traditional safety issues and side effects. He said that the gene mutation that caused the disease very likely evolved in response to some other problem, so that if everyone turned off that gene we might see some other horrible condition erupt. Now there's an interesting temptation for the marketing folks of a profit-based business.

[nanocub.livejournal.com]

"Mono" (Infectious Mononucleosis) as an adult is the almost certain result of an excessively sterile childhood. It's caused by the Epstein-Barr Virus, generally passed through saliva, and most people are exposed to it a child. In childhood, it causes a relatively mild cold. When someone is not exposed to it as a child, but then grows up and starts kissing, it causes a longer lasting, debilitating illness. The later in life the exposure, the worse the illness.

Most folks start kissing around their teenage years, so those with overly sterile childhoods often have to bail on high school for a few weeks. A few late bloomers make it to college before exposure, they get knocked out for a month or so. The very, very late bloomers, such as myself, wait until they are well into grad school before they start kissing, and get knocked out for months.

Spit on your toddlers, it's good for them.

[markbuster.livejournal.com]

and if you are altruistic, spit on other people's kids.

[airporter.livejournal.com]

So it really is good luck. And I thought it was just one more scene in a romantic comedy.

[airporter.livejournal.com]

Speaking as an adult who's never had the mumps, I couldn't agree more.

Now that I'll be working with kids regularly, I expect to be exposed at some point. It's a good thing I've no plans to procreate.