Antibiotic Use Linked To Allergies
Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2004 12:27 pm
(UPI) -- Michigan scientists say the bacteria and fungi in a person's gastrointestinal tract have a great deal to do with his or her sensitivity to allergens.
A team from the University of Michigan, in a study to be published in next month's edition of the journal Infection and Immunity, report new evidence suggesting that changes in the normal mixture of microflora, bacteria and fungi in the gastrointestinal tract, can intensify the immune system's reaction to common allergens like pollen or animal dander in the lung and increase the risk of developing chronic allergies or asthma.
The team said it suspects that changes in gut microflora caused by widespread use of antibiotics plus a modern high-fat, high-sugar, low-fiber diet could be responsible for a major increase, over the last 40 years, in cases of chronic asthma and allergies in Western industrialized countries.
© 2002-2004 RedNova.com. All rights reserved.
http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=113794
A team from the University of Michigan, in a study to be published in next month's edition of the journal Infection and Immunity, report new evidence suggesting that changes in the normal mixture of microflora, bacteria and fungi in the gastrointestinal tract, can intensify the immune system's reaction to common allergens like pollen or animal dander in the lung and increase the risk of developing chronic allergies or asthma.
The team said it suspects that changes in gut microflora caused by widespread use of antibiotics plus a modern high-fat, high-sugar, low-fiber diet could be responsible for a major increase, over the last 40 years, in cases of chronic asthma and allergies in Western industrialized countries.
© 2002-2004 RedNova.com. All rights reserved.
http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=113794