This study is brief, but worth sharing. This study is important because finally, someone looking for the cause of allergy rather than just assuming that the body went off track and looking to treat the symptoms. It’s all about evolution. Once we recognize that, then we have truly meaningful research on the subject.
From National Institutes of Health:
Study: Allergy in Evolution
Source
Asthma and Allergy Disease Center, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. tap2z@virginia.edu
Abstract
The ‘foreignness’ of proteins that we encounter in our homes and outdoors is in large part dependent on their evolutionary distance from man. This is relevant to understanding the differences between mammalian allergens, e.g. cats, and arthropod allergens, e.g. mites and cockroaches, as well as to understanding responses to a wide range of food allergens. On the other hand, allergic disease has gone through a major evolution of its own from a prehygiene state where there is minimal production of allergen-specific IgE, to the production of high-titer IgE, and then to the dramatic increase in asthma. The challenge is to understand how changes in both hygiene and lifestyle have contributed to the changes in allergic disease.
Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.
Chem Immunol Allergy. 2012;96:1-6. Epub 2012 Mar 13.
Allergy in evolution.
Platts-Mills TA.
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Image thanks to gigaom.com
Dr. Stephen Wangen is the award winning author of two books on solving digestive disorders, and a nationally recognized speaker on IBS. He has been on ABC, NBC, and Fox as well as public radio. He was recently named one of Seattle’s Top Doctors by Seattle Magazine.
