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From: Kofi on 7 Aug 2008 02:13
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715071419.htm>

Science News

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Stomach Bug Appears To Protect Kids From Asthma, Says New Study
ScienceDaily (July 20, 2008) � A long-time microbial inhabitant of the
human stomach may protect children from developing asthma, according to
a new study among more than 7,000 subjects led by NYU Langone Medical
Center researchers. Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that has co-existed
with humans for at least 50,000 years, may lead to peptic ulcers and
stomach cancer. Yet, kids between the ages of 3 and 13 are nearly 59
percent less likely to have asthma if they carry the bug, the
researchers report.

The study appears in the July 15, 2008, online issue of The Journal of
Infectious Diseases.

"Our findings suggest that absence of H. pylori may be one explanation
for the increased risk of childhood asthma," says Yu Chen, Ph.D.,
assistant professor of epidemiology at New York University School of
Medicine and a co-author of the study. "Among teens and children ages 3
to 19 years, carriers of H. pylori were 25 percent less likely to have
asthma."

The impact was even more potent among children ages 3 to 13: they were
59 percent less likely to have asthma if they carried the bacterium, the
researchers report. H. pylori carriers in teens and children were also
40 percent less likely to have hay fever and associated allergies such
as eczema or rash.

These results, which follow on from similar findings in adults published
by the same authors last year, are based on an analysis of data gathered
from 7,412 participants in the fourth National Health and Nutrition
Survey (NHANES IV) conducted from 1999 to 2000 by the National Center
for Health Statistics.
Dr. Chen collaborated on the survey with Martin J. Blaser, M.D., the
Frederick H. King Professor of Internal Medicine, chair of the
department of medicine, and professor of microbiology at NYU Langone
Medical Center. Dr. Blaser has studied H. pylori for more than two
decades.

Asthma has been rising steadily for the past half-century. Meanwhile H.
pylori, once nearly universal in humans, has been slowly disappearing
from developed countries over the past century due to increased
antibiotic use, which kills off the bacteria, and cleaner water and
homes, explains Dr. Blaser. Data from NHANES IV showed that only 5.4
percent of children born in the 1990s were positive for H. pylori, and
that 11.3 percent of the participants under 10 had received an
antibiotic in the month prior to the survey.

The rise in asthma over the past decades, Dr. Blaser says, could stem
from the fact that a stomach harboring H. pylori has a different
immunological status from one lacking the bug. When H. pylori is
present, the stomach is lined with immune cells called regulatory T
cells that control the body's response to invaders. Without these cells,
a child can be more sensitive to allergens.
"Our hypothesis is that if you have Helicobacter you have a greater
population of regulatory T-cells that are setting a higher threshold for
sensitization," Dr. Blaser explains. "For example, if a child doesn't
have Helicobacter and has contact with two or three cockroaches, he may
get sensitized to them. But if Helicobacter is directing the immune
response, then even if a child comes into contact with many cockroaches
he may not get sensitized because his immune system is more tolerant."

In other words, the presence of the bacteria in the stomach may
influence how a child's immune system develops: if a child does not
encounter Helicobacter early on, the immune system may not learn how to
regulate a response to allergens. Therefore, the child may be more
likely to mount the kinds of inflammatory responses that trigger asthma.

"There's a growing body of data that says that early life use of
antibiotics increases risk of asthma, and parents and doctors are using
antibiotics like water," Dr. Blaser says. "The reality is that
Helicobacter is disappearing extremely rapidly. In the NHANES IV study,
less than six percent of U.S. children had Helicobacter, and probably
two generations ago it was 70 percent. So, this is a huge change in
human micro-ecology. The disappearance of an organism that's been in the
stomach forever and is dominant is likely to have consequences. The
consequences may be both good--less likelihood of gastric cancer and
ulcers later in life--and bad: more asthma early in life."

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adapted from materials provided by NYU Langone Medical Center / New York
University School of Medicine.

Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the
following formats:

APA
MLA
From: François Rose on 7 Aug 2008 04:57
On Aug 7, 8:13 am, Kofi <k...(a)anon.un> wrote:
> <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715071419.htm>
>
> Science News
>
>  Share    Blog    Cite
>  Print    Email    Bookmark
>
> Stomach Bug Appears To Protect Kids From Asthma, Says New Study
> ScienceDaily (July 20, 2008) ‹ A long-time microbial inhabitant of the
> human stomach may protect children from developing asthma, according to
> a new study among more than 7,000 subjects led by NYU Langone Medical
> Center researchers. Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that has co-existed
> with humans for at least 50,000 years, may lead to peptic ulcers and
> stomach cancer. Yet, kids between the ages of 3 and 13 are nearly 59
> percent less likely to have asthma if they carry the bug, the
> researchers report.
>
> The study appears in the July 15, 2008, online issue of The Journal of
> Infectious Diseases.
>
> "Our findings suggest that absence of H. pylori may be one explanation
> for the increased risk of childhood asthma," says Yu Chen, Ph.D.,
> assistant professor of epidemiology at New York University School of
> Medicine and a co-author of the study. "Among teens and children ages 3
> to 19 years, carriers of H. pylori were 25 percent less likely to have
> asthma."
>
> The impact was even more potent among children ages 3 to 13: they were
> 59 percent less likely to have asthma if they carried the bacterium, the
> researchers report. H. pylori carriers in teens and children were also
> 40 percent less likely to have hay fever and associated allergies such
> as eczema or rash.
>
> These results, which follow on from similar findings in adults published
> by the same authors last year, are based on an analysis of data gathered
> from 7,412 participants in the fourth National Health and Nutrition
> Survey (NHANES IV) conducted from 1999 to 2000 by the National Center
> for Health Statistics.
> Dr. Chen collaborated on the survey with Martin J. Blaser, M.D., the
> Frederick H. King Professor of Internal Medicine, chair of the
> department of medicine, and professor of microbiology at NYU Langone
> Medical Center. Dr. Blaser has studied H. pylori for more than two
> decades.
>
> Asthma has been rising steadily for the past half-century. Meanwhile H.
> pylori, once nearly universal in humans, has been slowly disappearing
> from developed countries over the past century due to increased
> antibiotic use, which kills off the bacteria, and cleaner water and
> homes, explains Dr. Blaser. Data from NHANES IV showed that only 5.4
> percent of children born in the 1990s were positive for H. pylori, and
> that 11.3 percent of the participants under 10 had received an
> antibiotic in the month prior to the survey.
>
> The rise in asthma over the past decades, Dr. Blaser says, could stem
> from the fact that a stomach harboring H. pylori has a different
> immunological status from one lacking the bug. When H. pylori is
> present, the stomach is lined with immune cells called regulatory T
> cells that control the body's response to invaders. Without these cells,
> a child can be more sensitive to allergens.
> "Our hypothesis is that if you have Helicobacter you have a greater
> population of regulatory T-cells that are setting a higher threshold for
> sensitization," Dr. Blaser explains. "For example, if a child doesn't
> have Helicobacter and has contact with two or three cockroaches, he may
> get sensitized to them. But if Helicobacter is directing the immune
> response, then even if a child comes into contact with many cockroaches
> he may not get sensitized because his immune system is more tolerant."
>
> In other words, the presence of the bacteria in the stomach may
> influence how a child's immune system develops: if a child does not
> encounter Helicobacter early on, the immune system may not learn how to
> regulate a response to allergens. Therefore, the child may be more
> likely to mount the kinds of inflammatory responses that trigger asthma.
>
> "There's a growing body of data that says that early life use of
> antibiotics increases risk of asthma, and parents and doctors are using
> antibiotics like water," Dr. Blaser says. "The reality is that
> Helicobacter is disappearing extremely rapidly. In the NHANES IV study,
> less than six percent of U.S. children had Helicobacter, and probably
> two generations ago it was 70 percent. So, this is a huge change in
> human micro-ecology. The disappearance of an organism that's been in the
> stomach forever and is dominant is likely to have consequences. The
> consequences may be both good--less likelihood of gastric cancer and
> ulcers later in life--and bad: more asthma early in life."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Adapted from materials provided by NYU Langone Medical Center / New York
> University School of Medicine.
>
> Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the
> following formats:
>
>  APA
>  MLA

Hi Kofi.

There are, however, potential dangers in H. Pylori
The two that I'm aware are peptic ulcer (that my wife suffered) and
gastric cancer: see below

From the abstract of http://pmid.us/15106235
"REVIEWERS' CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of H. pylori infection is more
effective than antisecretory non-eradicating therapy (with or without
long-term maintenance antisecretory therapy) in preventing recurrent
bleeding from peptic ulcer. Consequently, all patients with peptic
ulcer bleeding should be tested for H. pylori infection, and
eradication therapy should be prescribed to H. pylori-positive
patients."

From the free full text of http://pmid.us/17589938

"H PYLORI INFECTION AND GC [Gastric Cancer] RISK

Since the incidental discovery in 1983, the association of H pylori
with GC has become a hot topic of gastroenterological studies. Just a
decade later, a large cross-sectional study (the EUROGAST study)
involving 17 populations from 13 different countries (Unites States,
Japan and 11 European countries), concluded that H pylori-infected
patients had six-fold increased risk of GC compared with uninfected
subjects[72]. In 1994, despite some controversial opinion, the
International Agency for Research on Cancer declared H pylori to be a
groupⅠhuman carcinogen for gastric adenocarcinoma[73]. The statement
was mainly based on epidemiological investigations since no
experimental studies had been performed at that time to prove the
causal link between H pylori and GC. Currently, although substantial
evidence supports the role of H pylori infection in GC development,
the magnitude of the risk of GC associated with infection remains
unclear.
<big snip>

However, the most powerful evidence comes from a prospective study on
1526 Japanese patients followed for approximately 7.8 years. GC
developed in 36 out of 1246 H pylori-positive patients (2.9%) in
contrast to none of the 280 non-infected subjects[146]."

François Rose
From: Taka on 7 Aug 2008 21:16
On Aug 7, 5:57 pm, François Rose <fr.r...(a)free.fr> wrote:
> On Aug 7, 8:13 am, Kofi <k...(a)anon.un> wrote:
>
>
>
> > <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715071419.htm>
>
> > Science News
>
> > Share Blog Cite
> > Print Email Bookmark
>
> > Stomach Bug Appears To Protect Kids From Asthma, Says New Study
> > ScienceDaily (July 20, 2008) ‹ A long-time microbial inhabitant of the
> > human stomach may protect children from developing asthma, according to
> > a new study among more than 7,000 subjects led by NYU Langone Medical
> > Center researchers. Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that has co-existed
> > with humans for at least 50,000 years, may lead to peptic ulcers and
> > stomach cancer. Yet, kids between the ages of 3 and 13 are nearly 59
> > percent less likely to have asthma if they carry the bug, the
> > researchers report.
>
> > The study appears in the July 15, 2008, online issue of The Journal of
> > Infectious Diseases.
>
> > "Our findings suggest that absence of H. pylori may be one explanation
> > for the increased risk of childhood asthma," says Yu Chen, Ph.D.,
> > assistant professor of epidemiology at New York University School of
> > Medicine and a co-author of the study. "Among teens and children ages 3
> > to 19 years, carriers of H. pylori were 25 percent less likely to have
> > asthma."
>
> > The impact was even more potent among children ages 3 to 13: they were
> > 59 percent less likely to have asthma if they carried the bacterium, the
> > researchers report. H. pylori carriers in teens and children were also
> > 40 percent less likely to have hay fever and associated allergies such
> > as eczema or rash.
>
> > These results, which follow on from similar findings in adults published
> > by the same authors last year, are based on an analysis of data gathered
> > from 7,412 participants in the fourth National Health and Nutrition
> > Survey (NHANES IV) conducted from 1999 to 2000 by the National Center
> > for Health Statistics.
> > Dr. Chen collaborated on the survey with Martin J. Blaser, M.D., the
> > Frederick H. King Professor of Internal Medicine, chair of the
> > department of medicine, and professor of microbiology at NYU Langone
> > Medical Center. Dr. Blaser has studied H. pylori for more than two
> > decades.
>
> > Asthma has been rising steadily for the past half-century. Meanwhile H.
> > pylori, once nearly universal in humans, has been slowly disappearing
> > from developed countries over the past century due to increased
> > antibiotic use, which kills off the bacteria, and cleaner water and
> > homes, explains Dr. Blaser. Data from NHANES IV showed that only 5.4
> > percent of children born in the 1990s were positive for H. pylori, and
> > that 11.3 percent of the participants under 10 had received an
> > antibiotic in the month prior to the survey.
>
> > The rise in asthma over the past decades, Dr. Blaser says, could stem
> > from the fact that a stomach harboring H. pylori has a different
> > immunological status from one lacking the bug. When H. pylori is
> > present, the stomach is lined with immune cells called regulatory T
> > cells that control the body's response to invaders. Without these cells,
> > a child can be more sensitive to allergens.
> > "Our hypothesis is that if you have Helicobacter you have a greater
> > population of regulatory T-cells that are setting a higher threshold for
> > sensitization," Dr. Blaser explains. "For example, if a child doesn't
> > have Helicobacter and has contact with two or three cockroaches, he may
> > get sensitized to them. But if Helicobacter is directing the immune
> > response, then even if a child comes into contact with many cockroaches
> > he may not get sensitized because his immune system is more tolerant."
>
> > In other words, the presence of the bacteria in the stomach may
> > influence how a child's immune system develops: if a child does not
> > encounter Helicobacter early on, the immune system may not learn how to
> > regulate a response to allergens. Therefore, the child may be more
> > likely to mount the kinds of inflammatory responses that trigger asthma..
>
> > "There's a growing body of data that says that early life use of
> > antibiotics increases risk of asthma, and parents and doctors are using
> > antibiotics like water," Dr. Blaser says. "The reality is that
> > Helicobacter is disappearing extremely rapidly. In the NHANES IV study,
> > less than six percent of U.S. children had Helicobacter, and probably
> > two generations ago it was 70 percent. So, this is a huge change in
> > human micro-ecology. The disappearance of an organism that's been in the
> > stomach forever and is dominant is likely to have consequences. The
> > consequences may be both good--less likelihood of gastric cancer and
> > ulcers later in life--and bad: more asthma early in life."
>
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Adapted from materials provided by NYU Langone Medical Center / New York
> > University School of Medicine.
>
> > Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the
> > following formats:
>
> > APA
> > MLA
>
> Hi Kofi.
>
> There are, however, potential dangers in H. Pylori
> The two that I'm aware are peptic ulcer (that my wife suffered) and
> gastric cancer: see below
>
> From the abstract ofhttp://pmid.us/15106235
> "REVIEWERS' CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of H. pylori infection is more
> effective than antisecretory non-eradicating therapy (with or without
> long-term maintenance antisecretory therapy) in preventing recurrent
> bleeding from peptic ulcer. Consequently, all patients with peptic
> ulcer bleeding should be tested for H. pylori infection, and
> eradication therapy should be prescribed to H. pylori-positive
> patients."
>
> From the free full text ofhttp://pmid.us/17589938
>
> "H PYLORI INFECTION AND GC [Gastric Cancer] RISK
>
> Since the incidental discovery in 1983, the association of H pylori
> with GC has become a hot topic of gastroenterological studies. Just a
> decade later, a large cross-sectional study (the EUROGAST study)
> involving 17 populations from 13 different countries (Unites States,
> Japan and 11 European countries), concluded that H pylori-infected
> patients had six-fold increased risk of GC compared with uninfected
> subjects[72]. In 1994, despite some controversial opinion, the
> International Agency for Research on Cancer declared H pylori to be a
> groupⅠhuman carcinogen for gastric adenocarcinoma[73]. The statement
> was mainly based on epidemiological investigations since no
> experimental studies had been performed at that time to prove the
> causal link between H pylori and GC. Currently, although substantial
> evidence supports the role of H pylori infection in GC development,
> the magnitude of the risk of GC associated with infection remains
> unclear.
> <big snip>
>
> However, the most powerful evidence comes from a prospective study on
> 1526 Japanese patients followed for approximately 7.8 years. GC
> developed in 36 out of 1246 H pylori-positive patients (2.9%) in
> contrast to none of the 280 non-infected subjects[146]."
>
> François Rose

Japanese do have higher occurrence of H. pylori and stomach cancer.
They also have higher consumption of Omega-3 and other PUFAs
generally. If this was a politically correct view, the "experts"
could call it a correlation or even causation ... I would call this
"how stressy conditions can turn symbiont into a pathogenic bug".

Taka
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