All articles tagged with #hygiene hypothesis
A global increase in psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory skin condition, is notably higher in wealthier regions like North America and Western Europe, with cases rising over 86% since 1990. Factors such as better diagnosis, hygiene practices, and immune system responses are believed to contribute, although no cure exists, and management involves topical treatments and light therapy.
Chronic inflammation, often associated with Western lifestyles, may be linked to a lack of early immune system challenges due to sanitized living conditions. Research conducted in the Philippines and Ecuador suggests that exposure to infectious diseases in childhood may calibrate the immune system to properly react to threats, reducing the likelihood of chronic inflammation later in life. This challenges the notion that chronic inflammation is an inevitable part of aging and suggests that providing the immune system with reasonable adversity early on could be a long-term remedy.
A study conducted by researchers from Karolinska Institutet challenges the hygiene hypothesis, which suggests that microbial exposure reduces the risk of developing allergies. The study compared the allergic immune response in "dirty" wildling mice, which have high infectious exposures from birth, to that of clean laboratory mice. Contrary to expectations, the researchers found that the wildling mice had robust signs of pathological inflammation and allergic responses when exposed to allergens. The findings suggest that the relationship between microbial exposure and allergies is more complex than previously thought and that general and broad exposures to microbes may not have the clear beneficial effects that were assumed.