(2005-09-11)
Scientists believe that knowing exactly which type of dirt provides the best 'education' for the immune system, could be key to providing new treatments for diseases such as asthma.
aking at the launch of the BA Festival of Science today, Professor Peter Openshaw, explains that a lack of exposure to dirt and common viral infections among children could be behind the rise in the levels of asthma.
Professor Openshaw, from Imperial College London, and based at St Mary's Hospital, says: "Although we have seen a dramatic decline in many previously common childhood infections over the past 100 years, we have also seen a considerable rise in the prevalence of diseases such as asthma. The increase in asthma cannot be blamed purely on changes in genetic risk, so must be down to environmental factors."
Scientists have called this the 'hygiene' hypothesis, with a lack of exposure to viruses and other environmental factors meaning children are not able to build up resistance, and can become more susceptible to disease later in life. They also believe having many older siblings, attending day care at an early age, or growing up on a farm can help in promoting resistance to disease.
Studies have shown that most common colds can help protect against wheezing in later childhood, and other childhood infections such as chickenpox also provide a level of protection.
Professor Openshaw adds: "The challenge now is to find ways of reproducing the protective effects of early childhood infections, while reducing the burden of actually getting these infectious diseases. Knowing exactly which 'dirt' provides the best education for the immune system, and how to mimic its affects in a cleaner environment, could be the key to reducing the rise in the prevalence of asthma and related diseases."
Professor Openshaw is a respiratory medicine researcher, looking at immunological responses to diseases such as asthma, the common cold and other lung diseases.
Tony Stephenson
at.stephenson@imperial.ac.uk
44-207-594-6712
Imperial College London
http://www.imperial.ac.uk/press
| Big Fish Games’ Hidden Expedition Titanic and Azada released on PC CD-ROM by Focus Multimedia |
| Immerse yourself in mystery and magic with two exciting new casual games from Focus Multimedia and Big Fish Games Studios, one of the world’s leading casual game developers. Hidden Expedition Titanic and Azada join Focus’ popular Revival range of super-budget price games and are available in a store near you. |
| Professional diagram and communicate with essential Edraw solution |
| Edraw Max enables students, teachers and business professionals to reliably create and publish kinds of diagrams to represent any ideas. With large pre-drawn libraries and more than 4600 vector symbols, drawing couldn't be easier! |
| Hallmark Cards Signs Exclusive Deal with OK Magazine |
| New range of cards launched to make you the cover star.Hallmark Cards in partnership with OK Magazine has launched an exclusive and exciting new range of greeting cards that gives people the chance to give family and friends the A-List treatment. |
| Rocky Top Restaurants Participate In Downtown Raleigh Restaurant Week |
| Bogart’s And The Red Room Participate In Downtown Raleigh Alliance Event |
| Claim It, It's Your Right |
| Many people choose not to pursue an accident claim. The reasons range from knowing the insurance company will settle; to they don't want the legal hassles and expense. |
| Ask A Computer Planet Expert |
| Many individuals and businesses have always purchased their personal computers from a well-known provider to pre-conceived specifications. Increasingly... |
| Get Help from SEO and Advertise your Business Worldwide |
| The effectiveness of SEO and PPC Services are directly related to the quality and quantity of the performance data that they have to work with. If you are seeking assistance in achieving a higher ranking on search engine results, then we suggest you visit RankYourWebsites.com, specialist in this area. If you have found your attempts at optimization to prove fruitless, the representatives at RankYourWebsites.com will have a solution to increase your traffic. |
| Low Cost Rebar Detailing, Rebar Drawing Services - Outsource Now! |
| Save upto 60% by outsourcing Rebar detailing and Concrete reinforcing steel related requirements to us! |
| Vineyard for sale new york, vineyard property for sale in, vineyard houses for sale, valley vineyard for sale |
| http://www.vineyardsforsalein.com/ - online island vineyard for sale, vineyard for sale paso, texas vineyard for sale, washington vineyard for sale, tuscany vineyard for sale, vineyard for sale santa, vineyard for sale California |
| Shieldyourself MD interviewed on BBC Radio |
| Mark Flanagan, Managing Director of Manchester health and safety, food safety and fire safety consultancy, Shieldyourself, discussed the Scores on the Doors scheme when he made a guest appearance on the BBC’s 5 Live Radio Show recently. |
| Colorado springs houses, colorado springs realty, colorado springs apartments, colorado springs homes |
| http://www.jannettehuismann.com/ - Find, Buy, Sale house, property, home, land, real estate property, park, hud foreclosure, home foreclosure, hotels, apartments under your desire budget at colorado springs, usa. |
| Unitech Unihomes Kolar Road Bhopal : Affinityconsultant.com |
| Unihomes Bhopal is a 23 acre residential development which offers you quality living that you have always dreamt of. Nestled amongst greens and landscaped parks and with towers standing 6 storey high. |
| Perspective Magazine Gets Its Rightful Domain |
| After nearly four years Perspective Magazine has now managed to acquire the previously unavailable PerspectiveMagazine.com |
| Under Floor Heating – The Legislation |
| Ambient Electrical, the leading providers of under floor heating, are able to advice all their customers on the appropriate regulations for the installation of such a system. |
| Big Click Studios Gets Bigger |
| Erina web design firm Big Click Studios was bursting at the seams with its growing workload, so has expanded its office capacity and hired extra staff to cope with demand. |
| Has anyone told EmploymentCrossing.com there is an Economic Slowdown? |
| This press release discusses EmploymentCrossing.com, a private job board that centralizes to one location all the job postings over online websites and thousands of jobs advertised on job boards and in newspapers. There appears to be no economic slowdown at the Employment Crossing. |
| New treatment 'may prevent blindness' |
| Going blind is a terrifying prospect for some people and many stop at nothing to preserve the health of their eyes. |
| Cancer tumour growth cells 'not invincible' |
| Despite recent reports revealing that the number for people dying from cancer has declined over the last 30 years, it remains the second biggest killer on the planet. |
| Advanced Data Entry Solutions at DataEntryIndia.co.uk |
| Today effective data management is becoming more and more demanding activity for any organization. Efficient and effective data entry solutions are available at DataEntryIndia.co.uk to accomplish such demands. |
| OCD 'can be debilitating' |
| Everybody has experienced a moment when they have had to go back and check a door lock or make sure a light is turned off, but for some people this can become an obsession |
| Introducing The Newly Improved Cheapmusicdownload, A Music Download Comparison Website |
| Cheapmusicdownload announces the newly improved online music download comparison website. The website is packed with even better key feature reviews and side by side comparison of the top ten music download website to allow buyers to make informed decisions. |
| The Childrens Mutual reports £25 billion cost for 2009 university starters |
| The Childrens Mutual reports the cost of university for this year's A Level graduates could be as high as £25 billion and parents may remain unaware of this rising bill |
| Contract Mobile Phones Bad Credit- get mobile phone connectivity irrespective of bad credit |
| In case of Contract Mobile Phones Bad Credit, you need not require going through a series of paperwork. The processing is really fast as there is no need of credit check. |
| CompTIA A+ Certification Video Training |
| Comptia A+ Certification is the standard for measuring a technician’s or Customer Support Professional's computer hardware and software knowledge. |
| Music Giant "Glama World Records"set to Release the Most Anticipated Urban |
| Urban Music Giant "Glama World Records is back on top with a revamped label, roster and releases. |