[AG-EQ] Article copied from MNN Mother Nature Network

[Jewel]

As like everyone else who subscribes to this list, anything that has a connection to Nature, and 
that is, * almost:  no forget the * * almost,  everything, I have an abiding interest in the marvels 
and mysteries of the natural world.
The Mother Nature Network, MNN, though it has a goodly percentage of photograpical input, also has 
sufficient text to make it, perfectly, accessible to blind folk.
Here is an example that I copied out just a few moments ago.
"Why Growing Up On A Farm Is Beneficial to Your Immune System"


Researchers may have figured out what it is about life on a farm that protects kids from allergies 
and boosts their immune systems. (Photo: Andy Dean Photography/Shutterstock)




Health experts have known for years that kids who grow up on a farm have fewer incidents of 
allergies and asthma than city kids, but continued research is helping them better understand the 
connection between the immune system and microbes only found in that setting.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine compared 30 Amish children and 30 Hutterite 
children from two farming groups in North Dakota. Researchers chose these children because asthma is 
rare among the Amish but common among the Hutterites, even though the groups have similar genetic 
backgrounds and diets and little exposure to tobacco smoke, polluted air and indoor pets. The one 
key difference lies in their farming methods: The Amish shun electricity and industrialization, 
while the Hutterites embrace it. Because of this, the children are exposed to different microbes.



"We never thought we would see a difference," Carole Ober, an author of the study and the chairwoman 
of the department of human genetics at the University of Chicago, told The New York Times. But to 
their great surprise, "we saw whopping differences with very, very different cell types and cell 
numbers."


The Amish children all had a large proportion of neutrophils, white blood cells that are part of the 
so-called innate immune system. The Amish kids' neutrophils "were newly emerged from their bone 
marrow, evidence of a continual low-grade reaction to microbial invaders," the Times reported. In 
contrast, the Hutterite kids had "old" neutrophils, and researchers found their blood was full of 
another type of immune cell, eosinophils, which provoke allergic reactions.

"I keep saying if everyone would just put a cow in their house, no kid would have asthma, but that's 
not very practical," Ober told Live Science. Instead, Ober envisions an air mister parents could use 
to spray the beneficial microbes into the air.

The link from gut to immune system

Girl hugging lamb on the farm
The Amish babies involved in the experiment all lived in rural homes with farm animals. (Photo: 
Elizaveta Galitckaia/Shutterstock)


Scientists from The Ohio State University took note of this connection and took it a step further. 
In a small study of Ohio babies, they found that Amish babies in rural settings had much more good 
bacteria than urban babies, which wasn't surprising given the previous studies. But they also found 
evidence that a healthier gut microbiome may lead to healthier development of the respiratory immune 
system, according to a press release from OSU.

They made this connection with the help of young pigs. They essentially did a fecal transplant, 
placing the Amish babies' poop into the intestines of newborn pigs, essentially testing the hygiene 
hypothesis with the help of pigs, which have an immune system more similar to humans. The results 
were an increased development of immune cells, particularly lymphoid and myeloid cells in the 
intestines.

"We wanted to see what happens in early immune system development when newborn pigs with 'germ-free' 
guts are given the gut microbes from human babies raised in different environments," said 
Renukaradhya Gourapura, co-lead author of the study. "From the day of their birth, these Amish 
babies were exposed to various microbial species inside and outside of their homes."

The research was published in Frontiers in Immunology.

A closer look at farm dust

cows feeding
Researchers were especially interested in dust on dairy farms. (Photo: Ewa Studio/Shutterstock)


Researchers at two Belgian universities collaborated on a study that looked at one particular aspect 
of farm living - the dust. They found that a bacteria detected in farm dust might initiate an immune 
system response that reduces the body's reaction to allergens and asthmatic triggers. Their work was 
published in the journal Science.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 6.8 million children in the U.S. have 
been diagnosed with asthma and about 17 percent of kids suffer from respiratory allergies to things 
like pollen and mold. But over the last few decades, health care providers have observed that kids 
who grow up on farms are much less likely to be affected by these conditions than their 
urban-dwelling peers.

So researchers have been looking at farm dust to better understand how it protects kids from 
respiratory problems. For the 2015 study, researchers exposed mice to bacteria found in farm dust. 
After two weeks, they exposed those mice to dust mites. They found that the mice who had been 
exposed to the bacteria were less likely to have an asthmatic or allergic reaction to the dust mites 
than the unexposed mice.

What's more, researchers found that when the mice were exposed to farm dust, they produced a protein 
in their lungs called A20. When they deactivated this protein, these mice had a normal allergic 
response to the dust mites.

Researchers confirmed these findings with human surveys where they found that people who suffer from 
allergies and asthma have a deficiency in A20 protein. Finally, they took a look at the kids growing 
up on farms who develop asthma and allergies. You guessed it - those kids have a mutation in their 
A20 gene that impedes the production of A20 protein.

By narrowing down the mechanisms behind certain asthmatic and allergic reactions, these researchers 
may have opened the door for the development of vaccines and treatment options for people who suffer 
from these conditions.

End of copied article, but delay your further reading for just a moment.  I remember that, in some 
blog to which I had access yonks ago, the writer advised that the contents of the dustbag of a 
vbacuum cleaner should be, regulary emptied into a baby's basinette/cot!!!  The blogger didn't 
specify that the dust should include farm dust, but if you city slicker type folk can ask your rual 
cousins to send you the occasional delivery of hay, straw, various types of polin and other dusts 
that are to be found out there in ruraldom,   later on when his/her school mates are sneezing and 
wiping  streaming eyes while he/she isn't,  the mucky little brat may think to thank its 
forward-looking parents!!! !

        Jewel