By
Blake Smith
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Exposure to germs may prevent chronic asthma, UA study
University of Arizona researchers have found that infants who attend day care during their first six months of life or have two or more older siblings are nearly half as likely to develop asthma than children who don't.
In a 20-year study released Wednesday, Arizona Respiratory Sciences Center and Steele Memorial Children's Research Center doctors studied more than 1,000 Tucson children from birth, finding that exposure to germs at an early age might prevent development of the most chronic childhood illness.
"If a child doesn't have those kind of exposures, their bodies look at allergens as bad things," said Anne Wright, Respiratory Sciences Center research associate and senior author of the study.
The immune system gets stimulated with increased exposure to bad organisms and without those exposures illness-fighting allergens are viewed as the enemy.
While exposure to germs was found to affect the chances of asthma development in children, other factors influence the condition.
"It involves interactions between genetics and environment," she said. "People with family history are at a higher risk, and it also depends on their environment."
The hardest hit areas for asthma cases are poorer regions, possibly because of a lack of adequate health care, stated the Centers for Disease Control Web site.
According to the CDC in Atlanta, the number of people suffering from asthma in the United States has more than doubled since the start of the study, and asthma is believed to be the most common reason that children miss school.
There is one major drawback for infants that attend day care or have older siblings though.
"Early in life, if kids are exposed (to germs), they are more likely to wheeze. But then what happens as they get older, they end up with lower rates of asthma," Wright added.
Infantile wheezing can be indicative of the immune system being exposed to germs, which could set the stage for immune system build-up.
The study, which began in 1980, involved children of ethnic and economic backgrounds reflective of the Tucson community.
Children involved with the study will continue to be examined through adulthood.
This study could emphasize the fact that people insist too strongly on living in a clean environment, she said.
"You should pick up your room, but maybe not vacuum."
