I heard Rob Dunn, PhD,  associate professor of biology at North Carolina
State University, on the People's Pharmacy radio program (NPR) this weekend
talking about his hygiene hypothesis.  See the snippet below for a summary.
This is the guy who has assayed belly buttons and discovered a whole flora
and fauna living in that interesting orifice.  Dr. Dunn says our modern
homes are too sterile and our kid's unstimulated immune systems are
attacking themselves, possibly explaining some of the autoimmune disorders
we are seeing.  He is currently surveying the microbiology of clean urban
homes versus rural/farm homes with pet and livestock interactions.  Where do
bees stand now in the immune system response to parasites?  Overwhelmed I
think.  Food for thought.  

"Thousands of years ago (and more), human beings co-existed with a wide
range of other species that lived around us and even on our skin and in our
bodies. They helped shape our biology, and their effects can still be seen
in our health. The appendix, for example, long thought to be a useless
vestige with no function, appears to serve as a reservoir for beneficial
bacteria that help keep the immune system tuned up. According to the hygiene
hypothesis, the absence of parasitic worms from today's humans may
predispose some people to allergies or autoimmune conditions such as Crohn's
disease. 

Genome sequencing has revealed the presence of a whole lot more bacteria on
our skin, in our bodies and around our homes than we ever dreamed possible.
How does this crowd affect our health?"  see:
http://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2011/12/10/838-the-wild-life-of-our-bodies/

Bill Lord

 


             ***********************************************
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

Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm