LifeCare Chiropractic

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asthma

Insights into milk protein allergy: Microenvironment matters – (01-09-03)

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Insights into milk protein allergy: Microenvironment matters

This is an interesting article that delves a little deeper into the immunology between cow’s milk allergy. Essentially, in milk allergic subjects, their T cells (a portion of the immune system known as cell-mediated immune) produce cytokines (chemical messengers that tell other cells what to do) consistent with a Th2 profile. In English, exposure to milk in suseptable individuals causes cells of their immune system to produce more cells that create allergic symptoms. Even with all this knowledge, food allergy still remains a very uncommon approach to addressing allergic and asthmatic patients. Avoidance of common allergens (cow’s milk, corn, wheat, soy) should be the first approach to any patient with allergies or asthma.

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Effects of yoghurt on immune, clinical markers of rhinopathic patients – (01-09-03)

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Effects of yoghurt on immune, clinical markers of rhinopathic patients

Tying in with the previous article, here we see a small study that shows that yogurt, which is known to contain probiotic bacteria capable of favorably modulating the immune response, can lower allergic responses. Kill off that bacteria in newborns and infants and you have a strong case for development of allergies and asthma.

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New insights into the pathogenesis of asthma – (02-10-03)

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New insights into the pathogenesis of asthma

Interestingly, I sat next to a gentleman a few weeks ago at dinner that was a respiratory therapist. I asked him about the increasing prevalence of asthma, and he just said something like “it’s all about the genes that these kids have.” Really? This study cites a doubling of the asthma rates since 1980. Twenty years ago. Genetic change? Sorry, but it takes literally hundreds of thousands of years for genetic drift to occur. Just a tad shy of the 20 years we see here. The only other answer is environment. This article is a wonderful review of the Th1/Th2 story and how it relates to asthma and atopy. Th1/Th2 imbalances are known to be cause by lack of normal flora in infancy, living in a near-sterile environment and vaccinations. Chalk up another long term harmful effect of antibiotic use.

JCI — Elias et al. 111 (3): 291

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Allergies and Asthma: Dogs, Bacteria and Dust, Oh My!

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probiotics, dogs and allergies
Probiotics and pets help fight off allergies

The first 2 years of your child’s immune system are the most critical. Breast feeding, pets in the home, antibiotics, vaccinations–all these play a roll in the rest of your little one’s life.

Let me amend that–the prior 9 months before the two years start are equally as important.

Either way, the immune system does not come fully programmed; rather, it needs to be tamed by teaching it to attack what it is supposed to attack and recognize as friends our own tissues. The gut plays a large role in this process since 2/3 of immune cells interact with the gut at some point in their life cycles.

This is why having the right bacteria is so critical as is avoiding antibiotics unless absolutely critical. Antibiotics decimate the bacteria in our guts that can take years to re-balance.

As an animal lover, currently housing a near-zoo consisting of a salt water tank, three small fish tanks, 5 dogs, 3 lizards and a bearded dragon (which is actually a lizard as well but seems unique enough to warrant it’s own category), I think that having pets for children is a good idea anyway and teaches many lessons in life. Beyond that, there has been research supporting the fact that when children are exposed to animals at a very young age (that “under 2” thing again) the risks of developing asthma and allergies is lower.

This falls under the “hygiene hypothesis,” where our increasingly sterile lifestyles are not training our immune system for challenges. This lack of training leads to the development of immune system disorders. With this in mind, I think the way this particular article brings all of this together is just short of awesome.

Keeping in mind that this was a mouse study, there is no reason to doubt that the same pathway works in us. Here’s how it goes:

  1. Dogs carry dust into the household.
  2. This dust then has an effect on the bacteria in the gut, increasing levels Lactobacillus johnsonii, which has been shown to tone down allergic inflammation in the airways.
  3. This results in reduced Th2 cytokine production, fewer activated T cells.

Wow. Talk about a convoluted web! Either way, this study really strongly reinforces the hygiene hypothesis, showing that it requires dirt, dogs AND bacteria for the full beneficial effect.

 

Aldehydes, Glutathione in Exhalation of Kids with Asthma Exacerbation – (03-04-03)

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Aldehydes, Glutathione in Exhalation of Kids with Asthma Exacerbation.

I can follow along with the idea that oxidative stress and lowered glutathione levels are noted in children with asthma flare ups. However, the authors noted that a 5-day course of oral prednisone lowers the levels in exhaled breath. Huh? We have an appearent defect–lowered gluatathione and oxidative stress–and we fix it with steroids?? Excuse me for stating the obvious, but how about nebulized gluatathione inhaler and antioxidant therapy to address this? If your gas gauge reads low on gas, do you just tow around the car and call it fixed?

AJRCCM — Abstracts: Corradi et al. 167 (3): 395

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Asthma Death Rate Decrease Attributed to Improved management – (09-21-00)

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Asthma Death Rate Decrease Attributed to Improved management

While this is good news, we need to look deeper into what this means. First, the rates of asthma are increasing almost as rapidly as diabetes in our population. Next, “control” of asthma dictates a reliance on pharmaceutical drugs with significant side effects. I would much rather prefer the term “suppress” to indicate that once the drugs are removed, the conditions that initially caused the airway hyper-responsiveness are still present. There are many natural, healthy ways to deal with asthma without the dependency of pharmaceuticals.

Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2000;85:121-127 The asthma death rate dropped 4% in the United States in 1997, most likely due to improved disease management. “The decrease of asthma deaths in children less than 15 years of age is most significant, falling from 191 in 1996 to 154 in 1997, which is the greatest decrease in any single year since 1971,” said author R. Michael Sly, MD, head of the Section of Allergy and Immunology at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. “However, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was the eighth leading cause of death at 5 through 14 years of age in 1997. Asthma accounts for almost all of the deaths in this category in this age group,” he said.

Sensitisation, asthma, Th2 response in children exposed to cat allergen – (04-12-01)

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Sensitisation, asthma, Th2 response in children exposed to cat allergen

I’m sure there has been many a crying young child whose beloved pets have been removed from the home in an attempt to help prevent asthmatic or allergic attacks, and yet numerous studies have actually shown a protective effect from this exposure. Dogma lives on…

The Journal : Back Issues

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