Research & Development World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

Can House Dust Explain Why Amish Protected from Asthma?

By R&D Editors | August 3, 2016

An Amish girl chases a cow from the outfield during a baseball game in Bergholz, Ohio. A study published Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2015 explored reasons why asthma is so uncommon among Amish communities, where children play barefoot in dairy barns and farm fields, while indoor pets are taboo. Early and frequent exposure to farming microbes might boost Amish children’s disease-fighting immune system, the study suggests. (AP Photo/Scott R. Galvin)

Forget Fluffy and Fido. Bessie the cow just might make a healthier pet.

That idea stems from new research in two farming-based religious communities that shun modern ways but have dramatically different childhood asthma rates. The goal was to find an explanation for why asthma is so uncommon among Amish communities, where children run barefoot in dairy barns and farm fields, but much higher in the other group.

Blood samples, house dust and mice experiments revealed some tantalizing clues, suggesting something in the dust was protecting the Amish children.

The study was published in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine . It involved 60 school-aged children — 30 each from an Amish community in Middlebury, Indiana, and from a Hutterite colony near Mitchell, South Dakota. Amish and Hutterites both originated in Europe, share old-style Protestant beliefs and lifestyles and have similar genetic ancestry.

But Hutterites live on large highly industrialized communal farms, use modern agricultural machinery, and children are more isolated from livestock. By contrast, the Amish have family-run farms, they use horse-drawn plows, their barns often are located near their homes and their children have daily exposure to farm animals, the researchers explained.

Asthma is a lung disease involving narrowed airways and episodes of wheezing, coughing and breathing difficulties. Its cause is unknown but scientists believe genes and the environment play a role. Having a family history of allergy or asthma increases the risk, and pollution, dust and pet dander are among triggers in susceptible people.

No Amish children and six Hutterites had asthma. Other studies have found rates of about 5 percent in Amish school-aged children versus up to about 20 percent in Hutterites and 10 percent for U.S. kids. Reasons for the higher Hutterite rate aren’t known but exhaust from farm machinery is an unlikely explanation because they typically don’t come in close contact with it, said study co-author Carole Ober, a University of Chicago geneticist.

Blood tests confirmed both groups of children had similar genetic profiles. But Amish children had far more white blood cells called neutrophils — important in fighting infections. Plus, these cells looked younger in Amish kids, suggesting their immune system was constantly stimulated by exposure to germs to produce more.

Other blood cells called monocytes were found in similar numbers in both groups. Previous studies suggest these cells are hyperactive in allergy-prone children but the cells showed signs of being less responsive to allergy triggers in the Amish kids, said co-author Anne Sperling, a University of Chicago immunologist.

“This was a phenomenal difference,” she said. “We were blown away.”

She said the second “gee-whiz moment” came after researchers collected Amish and Hutterite house dust and tested it on special mice sensitized to develop asthma symptoms. Hutterite dust triggered breathing troubles and inflamed airways in the mice; Amish dust did not.

What exactly is in Amish house dust that might protect children is not known and more research is planned to find out, but the study authors theorized it could be microbes including bacteria from dairy cows.

“We could just say put a cow in everyone’s house and no one would have asthma anymore but of course that’s not easy,” Ober said with a chuckle.

But if protective germs can be identified, it might someday be possible to create an asthma blocker for all children, she said.

A journal editorial said the study bolsters evidence that exposure to germs from traditional farming may protect against asthma. The results also support the so-called “hygiene hypothesis,” which theorizes that relatively germ-free homes of modern society make infants more vulnerable to allergies and asthma.

Dr. Talal Chatila, an allergy expert at Boston Children’s Hospital who wrote the editorial, said the study doesn’t answer when and how often exposure to farm dust might be needed to protect children and if it needs to begin before birth.

Ober noted that research has shown that infants whose families have dogs are less likely to develop asthma and allergies but that acquiring a dog later on doesn’t make a difference.

Online:

Asthma: http://tinyurl.com/p34ov3n

Hygiene hypothesis: http://tinyurl.com/q8a953t

 

Related Articles Read More >

Eli Lilly facility
9 R&D developments this week: Lilly builds major R&D center, Stratolaunch tests hypersonic craft, IBM chief urges AI R&D funding
professional photo of wooly mammoth in nature --ar 2:1 --personalize sq85hce --v 6.1 Job ID: 47185eaa-b213-4624-8bee-44f9e882feaa
Why science ethicists are sounding skepticism and alarm on ‘de-extinction’
ALAFIA system speeds complex molecular simulations for University of Miami drug research
3d rendered illustration of the anatomy of a cancer cell
Funding flows to obesity, oncology and immunology: 2024 sales data show where science is paying off
rd newsletter
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, trends, and strategies in Research & Development.
RD 25 Power Index

R&D World Digital Issues

Fall 2024 issue

Browse the most current issue of R&D World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading R&D magazine today.

Research & Development World
  • Subscribe to R&D World Magazine
  • Enews Sign Up
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • Global Funding Forecast

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search R&D World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE