Dirty Farm Air May Ward Off Asthma In Children

sciencehabit writes: For researchers trying to untangle the roots of the current epidemic of asthma, one observation is especially intriguing: Children who grow up on dairy farms are much less likely than the average child to develop the respiratory disease. Now, a European team studying mice has homed in on a possible explanation: Bits of bacteria found in farm dust trigger an inflammatory response in the animals' lungs that later protects them from asthma. An enzyme involved in this defense is sometimes disabled in people with asthma, suggesting that treatments inspired by this molecule could ward off the condition in people.

Comments

Re:Goin' to the farm

[Teun]

Having grown up on a farm I can vouch that farm air isn't dirty but at times it might appear to be rich to those not used to nature.
Statistically there is an interesting correlation between the incidence of asthma and those not having been exposed to nature, this study re-enforced this relation.
Similar relations exist between kids playing in the dirt (sand/soil) and those with less allergies.

It's about time to further investigate such.