How cats and cows protect farm children from asthma

Date:  July 6, 2017

Source:  University of Zurich

 

Summary:  It is a known fact that microbes on farms protect children from asthma and allergies. But even non-microbial molecules can have a protective effect. Immunologists have shown that a sialic acid found in farm animals is effective against inflammation of lung tissue. This study opens up a wide variety of perspectives for the prevention of allergies.  

 

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Mishka, 1st Sea Otter with Asthma, Learns to Use an Inhaler

by Laura Geggel, Staff Writer | September 24, 2015 09:47am ET

The air was hazy from forest fires, and Mishka, a 1-year-old sea otter at the Seattle Aquarium, could barely breathe.

Aquarium staff jumped into action, putting an oxygen mask on the 45-lb. (20 kilograms) sea otter and administering anti-inflammatory medication to help her breathe. After several medical tests, Mishka became the first-known sea otter (Enhydra lutris) to be diagnosed with asthma.

Now, trainers are teaching Mishka how to use an inhaler — one that's not designed for sea otters (after all, Mishka is the first one) but for cats, said Seattle Aquarium staff veterinarian Dr. Lesanna Lahner.

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How Household Dogs Protect Against Asthma and Infection

Dec. 16, 2013 — Children's risk for developing allergies and asthma is reduced when they are exposed in early infancy to a dog in the household, and now researchers have discovered a reason why.

Exposure of mice to dust from houses where canine pets are permitted both indoors and outdoors can reshape the community of microbes that live in the mouse gut -- collectively known as the gastrointestinal microbiome -- and also diminish immune system reactivity to common allergens, according to a new study by researchers led by Susan Lynch, PhD, associate professor with the Division of Gastroenterology at UC San Francisco, and Nicholas Lukacs, PhD, professor with the Department of Pathology at the U Michigan.

Read on

Why Having a Dog Helps Keep Kids Asthma-Free

If you're a dog person, your kids might be in luck. Research suggests that children who grow up in homes with pets are less likely to develop allergies, and now a recent study by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, sheds some light on why.

Working with mice, the scientists found that exposure to housedust from homes with a pet appeared to protect the mice against a common virus called respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which infects the lungs and breathing passages and is a major cause of respiratory illness in young children. (In adults, it usually causes run-of-the-mill cold symptoms.) Severe infections in infancy are linked with an increased risk of developing respiratory problems like asthma later on.

Lead researcher Kei Fujimura and her team looked at three groups of mice. One group was fed house dust from homes with dogs, and then exposed to RSV; a second group was infected with RSV without exposure to dust; and a control group of mice was not exposed to RSV or dust.

The study found that the mice that ingested house dust and were exposed to RSV didn't develop the telltale symptoms of infection, such as lung inflammation and mucus production -- these animals looked just like the controls. The researchers then examined the microbes living in the protected animals' guts, and found that the types of bacteria they harbored were different and more diverse than the bugs in the RSV-infected animals guts.

What do gut bugs have to do with asthma? Potentially a lot. Researchers are discovering that the microbiome, as it's known -- the vast community of good bacteria and viruses that live in and on the human body, including in the intestines -- not only play a vital role in basic bodily functions like digesting food, producing vitamins and fending off infection, but may also contribute to the development of chronic conditions and diseases like obesity, cancer and asthma.

Read on:  http://news.yahoo.com/why-having-dog-helps-keep-kids-asthma-free-064500621.html%3b_ylt=AgPTKHBpxlNLirB0owMQxat4hMgF%3b_ylu=X3oDMTRhdDVnMzN2BG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YgQW5pbWFsUGV0c1NTRgRwa2cDMzAzZTMxN2YtOTU5ZC0zYjMyLWE4OTMtNWE4OWNkMjNkMjMwBHBvcwM0BHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyAzJkZGYwNjgwLWJiMGYtMTFlMS1iN2NmLThjNzliMzRkNzQxNg--%3b_ylg=X3oDMTI0MmNvNGRoBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANzY2llbmNlfGFuaW1hbHNhbmRwZXRzBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z%3b_ylv=3

Lack of contact with nature 'increasing allergies'

A lack of exposure to a "natural environment" could be resulting in more urban dwellers developing allergies and asthma, research has suggested.

Finnish scientists say certain bacteria, shown to be beneficial for human health, are found in greater abundance in non-urban surroundings.

The microbiota play an important role in the development and maintenance of the immune system, they add.

The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"There are microbes everywhere, including in the built environment, but the composition is different between natural environments and human-built areas," explained co-author Ilkka Hanski from the University of Helsinki.

"The microbiota in natural environments is more beneficial for us," he told BBC News.

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17952320