An interesting article in the New York Times today about the use of hook worms to alleviate the symptoms of allergies and asthma. (See : The Worms Crawl In)
Allergies are believed to be the result of super sensitive immune systems that are triggered by the slightest irritation. It appears that a small number of hook worms can reduce the effectiveness of the immune system so the allergy sufferer gets relief. And the process seems to work so well in trials that people don’t want to give up their worms and those that didn’t get them but a placebo, want them.
(When I underwent desensitization for several different allergies—bee stings, insect bites, hay fever, etc.—I underwent series of shots of stronger and stronger serums that allowed my body to get used to the offending material. This hook worm treatment seems to do the opposite. It suppresses the immune systems response.)
The whole worm thingy got me to thinking (always dangerous!). What if the blossoming allergy and asthma problem we are seeing is because of the change in children’s play habits? Instead of being sent outside in the backyard to play in the sandbox or a convenient patch of dirt where they could build castles, roads or what have you, kids are staying inside to play video games. They are discouraged from ever going barefoot in the grass or actually get dirt between their toes or under their fingernails.
In our push to keep our children clean are we preventing the little parasites that could actually help them from entering their bodies?
In a related post, Ann Althouse asks; Where are the children?
(h/t to Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit who linked to both the Times article and the Althouse post.)
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