Page 58 - Spring2013
P. 58
All Thumbs Book Reviews
Many of us symptoms diminished. A mycobacterium (M. our fecal bacteria—not the more recent viruses
have heard vaccae) has given relief from asthma, eczema, like measles and the common cold (Graham
psoriasis (an autoimmune disease of the skin), Rook, page 110). Absence of stimulus? Muscles
that children and Reynaud’s (an autoimmune problem affect- atrophy, dendrites wither. And “the immune
growing up ing fingers and toes). Finnish children with the system that finds itself without microbial pres-
on farms with genes disposing them to type-1 diabetes had the sure grows jumpy (allergies) and turns against
benefit of increased resistance to the polio virus. the self (autoimmunity)” (page 127).
animals have Ankylosing spondylitis, in which the immune Just as the farm protects, so does day care.
fewer allergies system attacks a person’s spine, might save its All those babies sharing their microbes helps
than city kids. victim from retroviruses like HIV and hepatitis- educate the infant immune system. So do un-
C.
pasteurized dairy products. What happens at
What does this bewildering litany mean? birth? The baby picks up a lot of maternal mi-
One explanation is that those with autoimmune crobes. This may explain why mothers in China
or allergic diseases have inadequate regulatory- traditionally don’t bathe for several months after
T cells, part of the immune battery. Why would giving birth. They are educating their babies’
evolution put up with these genetic deficiencies? immune systems via introductions to microbes.
Perhaps because “. . . the tendencies underlying Some researchers have wondered why the babies
auto-immune disease have a purpose. . . [that] of non-allergic mothers develop peanut allergies.
relates to defense. . . . In the context [of] these An interesting theory points to the inclusion of
infections, [which such] variants evolved to peanut and related soy oils in many baby skin
handle, scientists repeatedly observe that autoim- balms. The skin does not provide the usual
munity materializes much less often.” In other introduction to proteins, especially not through
words, minus those infections, we see the rise in inflamed diaper rash: “eating proteins. . . usually
autoimmune diseases (page 56). leads to tolerance. . . . An approach via the skin,
The hygiene hypothesis has been kicking however, is much less ambiguous. It signifies
around for a few decades, and many of us have invasion” (page 287).
heard that children growing up on farms with When it comes to weaning, we have Gerber;
animals have fewer allergies than city kids. An but our ancestors did not. What they did was
allergy is a response to an allergen; an allergen is pre-masticate hard food for babies, as a mother
a protein that is less than 63 percent identical to a bird would for her offspring. This is another
human protein. This rules out single-cell bacteria opportunity for immune education. What shall
and leaves us with proteins from multi-cell be- we give baby today? One virus often passed on
ings: plants, fungi, animals. Most of those that is Epstein-Barre (EBV). If you don’t get it as a
bother us come from parasites like fleas, lice and toddler, you will probably get it after puberty
worms. But when mistakes are made, dust mites, in the form of mononucleosis, because it travels
for example, are targeted instead in a “reaction through saliva. This might not matter so much if
meant to expel worms” (page 96). a correlation between mono as a teenager hadn’t
Airborne infections, like measles or chicken been linked to a threefold increase in MS. So put
pox, do not protect against allergies. For this aside your squeamishness and start chewing up
you need orofecal exposure, surely provided on food for that baby you love! You will also help
farms! One of the veteran researchers in this area significantly to protect against allergies develop-
coined another expression for the phenomenon, ing by age five. What does this EBV virus do?
the “old friend's hypothesis.” He claims that we Apparently it insinuates itself in the B cells of
evolved with worms, microbes, lactobacilli and the immune system and, if acquired before age
58 Wise Traditions SPRING 2013 SPRING 2013 Wise Traditions