Can we prevent allergies altogether?
Scientists have identified genes and lifestyles that make children more vulnerable to food allergies and asthma.
In 10 seconds? Gene therapies and probiotics are being developed to strengthen kids’ immune systems and prevent the development of dangerous allergies later in life. (Read the science here)
Wait, why are we just talking about children? Trials have proved that immunity to allergies can be developed at a very early age. Results showed that exposure to bacteria during early life, such as children interacting with pets and farm animals or infections helps develop resistance. (Learn more about early exposure)
This is nuts. Is early exposure really good? Nuts, indeed, but rings true! Consider this: hospital admissions for anaphylaxis (a severe allergic reaction) have increased by 615% in the UK over 20 years and the cases of peanut allergy have tripled in the US. Compare this to Israeli kids, who almost never develop peanut allergy — studies have now linked the consumption of a popular peanut-based snack in Israel to their increased resistance. (Read more here)
Is there anything else that proves this? Yes. A new study into infants at risk of developing a peanut allergy showed that consuming, rather than avoiding, peanuts at 11 months old led to production of antibodies (called peanut-specific IgG4 antibodies) that suppressed the development of peanut allergy up till 5 years of age. (Learn more)
And is any of this genetic? Great guess! Scientists have indeed identified a gene (with the not-so-exciting name c11orf30/EMSY), responsible for a number of food allergies. This breakthrough will help identify at-risk children and help with the development of gene therapies.
Finally, did you mention probiotics? Well, scientists trying to prevent the development of asthma among at-risk youth are creating vaccines and probiotics that mimic early life microbial exposure. Additionally, a recent human trial on food allergies has established that probiotics combined with oral immunotherapy (OIT) can be more successful than OIT alone. (Find out more)
The developed world’s asthma and allergy problemCurrently, an estimated 20% of the population worldwide suffers from an allergic disorder.Rates of allergies and asthma are disproportionately increased among children in industrialised countries compared to those in developing ones.Many studies have linked this rise to practices of westernised lifestyles such as overuse of antibiotics, a lower fibre diet, and overall decreased bacterial and gut-inhabiting worm infections.
This research was curated by Preeyam Patel, PhD, Sparrho Hero and Postdoctoral Fellow at National Jewish Health, Denver, Colorado
(Psst, Preeyam distilled 31 research papers to save you 253.7 min)
