Lice is GOOD for you?
Most parents get the creepy-crawlies when they hear the dreaded "lice" word. If you've ever fought a battle against lice on your child's head, you know it's not an easy knock-out. The lice usually win for awhile before mom or dad are able to overcome them.
I saw a couple weeks ago online a study that said lice actually help us be creating a better immune system against allergies and asthma. Today, it's all over the internet. Speculation is that because of our current preoccupation of everything anti-bacterial, we may be creating over-active immune responses in ourselves and our children.
According to an article on Innovation Report:
"Their research, published in the open access journal BMC Biology, links the louse Polyplax serrata to a strong dampening of certain immune responses in wild wood mice. This implies that other mammals, such as modern humans, that develop in artificial environments may have less regulated, overactive immune systems precisely because they are not exposed to parasites throughout their lives.
The researchers speculate that the louse is able to exert some kind of immuno-suppressive effect, possibly directly by secreting some substance into the mice from its saliva, or indirectly by transmitting bacteria or other pathogens."
So mice that had lice had a less sensitive auto immune system. Could the increase in allergies and asthma be a result of our neverending quest for a sterile environment? I wonder if there is a relation between other auto-immune disorders, such as thyroid disease, as well.
I saw a couple weeks ago online a study that said lice actually help us be creating a better immune system against allergies and asthma. Today, it's all over the internet. Speculation is that because of our current preoccupation of everything anti-bacterial, we may be creating over-active immune responses in ourselves and our children.
According to an article on Innovation Report:
"Their research, published in the open access journal BMC Biology, links the louse Polyplax serrata to a strong dampening of certain immune responses in wild wood mice. This implies that other mammals, such as modern humans, that develop in artificial environments may have less regulated, overactive immune systems precisely because they are not exposed to parasites throughout their lives.
The researchers speculate that the louse is able to exert some kind of immuno-suppressive effect, possibly directly by secreting some substance into the mice from its saliva, or indirectly by transmitting bacteria or other pathogens."
So mice that had lice had a less sensitive auto immune system. Could the increase in allergies and asthma be a result of our neverending quest for a sterile environment? I wonder if there is a relation between other auto-immune disorders, such as thyroid disease, as well.
2 comments:
Lice are just bugs and when you know how to deal with them its not a problem. When my daughters school sent out notice i did not pay attention, but when they sent her home i went and got results and she was back in class the next day. i used a service called head lice heroes. i found them through a site www.licecentersofamerica.org. good luck julie
Thanks for the information. I'll look it up if any of my kids ever bring the annoying buggers home with them again. Thankfully, it only happened once and it was a few years ago.
I've heard about an organization that actually comes out to the house and takes out the lice and nits (with probably more patience than I could, lol).
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