The microorganism you meet, shape not only your gut health but seem to have a role to play in lung health.
Farm children breath easier
Mucking out the stables, bottle feeding babies and chasing the chickens, maybe “dirty” work, but kids growing up on farms, have a significantly lower incidence of asthma, than children growing up in rural towns and big cities.
Understanding why, could bring relief to the growing number of children facing this chronic illnesses.
So what is in lungfuls of farm air ?
Well this is the question that researchers from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet asked.
The team, took a peek inside the bedrooms of children living in a rural area of Bavaria. Some bedrooms were located on farms, while others were in rural villages.
Each bedroom was swabbed, to collect a dollop of dust. The dust sample was then taken to the lab for analysis. Since many bacteria and fungi don’t like labs, some fancy molecular biology work was performed so that the DNA in the sample was decoded. The DNA is able to show exactly who is living in the dust.
Both bedrooms had bacteria and fungi - maybe a little disconcerting to all those Mom’s who strive to create sterile home environments.
However, the farm bedrooms, had a lot more bugs in terms of the varieties. Among the residents were Staphylococcus sciuri and fungi of the genus Eurotium.
The “bugs” are guardians of the airways
The results suggest that the bugs we’re breathing in – maybe doing more than simply riding the airways in and out of our lungs. They’re keeping the immune system in check, stopping “bad bugs” from precipitating asthma.
Exactly how is still a matter of speculation.
It could be specific bugs in the crowd, working their magic or just the size of the crowd, which makes it hard for “bad” guys to get going and launch an asthma attack.
But cultivating good microflora in the respiratory tract seems to be the way to go to beat asthma.
Lung “probiotics”
In the future, we may be purchasing inhalers loaded with specific species of bacteria and fungi, to keep our lungs clear and open, much like it is possible to purchase probiotic pills today.
But, in the mean time, try to suck in some country air on a regular basis. Get outdoors, somewhere “dirty” and tend the garden of micoflora stopping over in the deep recesses of your respiratory tract, so that you breath a little easier.
Exposure to Environmental Microorganisms and Childhood Asthma. New England Journal of Medicine, 2011; 364 (8): 701. Markus J. Ege, Melanie Mayer, Anne-Cécile Normand, Jon Genuneit, William O.C.M. Cookson, Charlotte Braun-Fahrländer, Dick Heederik, Renaud Piarroux, Erika von MutiusKnow someone who will find this post useful ? Share it on facebook, linkedin, twitter
Further reading
![]() |
||
Does sun aversion trigger allergic reactions ? | Little girls need to wallow in dirt to grow up healthy | Colon cancer fat busting yoghurt coming to a supermarket shelf near you |
The 7 Big Spoons™…. are master switches that turn health on.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Balance Eicosanoids | Rein in insulin | Dial down stress | Sleep ! | Increase Vit D | Culivate microflora | Think champion |
Sign up for the E-spoons E-zine to get a monthly compilation of the posts from 7 Big Spoons delivered to your inbox.
Hire Dr Sandy from a Spoonful of Science to be the keynote speaker at your next event.
Did you learn something new or do you have a different perspective ? I’d love to hear from you so post me a comment below…..
2 Comments
I was given a pnumo vac 4 yrs ago while I was sick along with a tetnus vaccine. Immediately the day after I started needing an asthma puffer everyday. Ive done cleanses, seen a doc of oriental medicene and she picked up all kinds of things in me. typhoid, tb, yellow fever, and triconosis. The vaccine messed up my finely tuned immune system which had all these things in control. Ive taken medication to kill the triconosis just in case . Regular doctors say I cant prove it was from the vaccine. I test allergic to dust mites 1 and 2. I love Dr. Ohiara’s probiotics, I can feel them go to my lungs and sinuses. I got online hoping to find a probiotic inhaler filled with good bacteria that like to live in the lungs. Need any volunteers for experiments?
Hold you breath – I am sure one will arrive shortly. Lots of labs are working on the idea.