Scientists may have found the right potion to prevent asthma in children and this is through farm animal microbes. The researchers are s convinced with their findings they are looking at the possibility of developing some sort of a spray that would expose protected children to horses, cows and other farm animals.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said up to 10.6% of children in grade school are suffering from the chronic disease called asthma. This pressing problem has led researchers to toy with the idea of what they call hygiene hypothesis which believes that the very clean environment around children could be making them more susceptible to asthma. This gave rise to the belief that the immune system of the children would be stimulated when they are exposed to microbes, protecting them from asthma later on.
New York Times said comparative studies on farm-raised children without asthma and those who were raised in other environments with asthma were made but these lacked the evidence needed to come up with a conclusion that there is an environmental factor protecting children from the disease. This evidence is said to be present in the new research which studied Amish and Hutterites children who have similar background in diet and genetics except for their farming method.
The study shows that while the Amish children play with their barn animals, the Hutterites are do not do that and they have higher asthma cases. Live Science said this gave rise to a conclusion that Amish dairy farms could be the secret to reducing asthma among children since they have a much lower asthma rate because of their exposure to the farms when they were young.
BBC said the study, which appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, concluded that the house dusts containing barn animal microbes were bolstering the immune system of the Amish children, only 5% of whom have asthma compared to the Hutterites with an asthma rate of 21.3%. The study said the risk of allergy could increase if the children are not exposed to microbes early on.
