As soon as Mom brought me home from the hospital, I lived on a farm until I left in my Junior year for college.We had chickens,pigs, cows, horses, cats, dogs.  A circus animal act triggered my allergies, but I had many before that event.  If the following is true, I'm the exception.  Ate dirt, splattered with dung, you name it, I experienced it.  By 5 my allergies were full blown.
> I'm sure many of you have heard of the hygiene hypothesis, which posits that the
prevalence of autoimmune disorders is lower in individuals whose immunesystem gets exposed to more infections, more animal dander, more challengesof various sorts, and that the rising incidence of autoimmune diseases suchas inflammatory bowel disease, lupus, etc., may be related to improvedenvironmental hygiene and well-meaning parents keeping kids away fromperceived sources of germs that our forebears lived in close contact with.Chasing a chicken around the yard may be good for you in the long run!<

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html