Better be bastard
Martina Feichter studied biology with an elective subject pharmacy in Innsbruck and also immersed herself in the world of medicinal plants. From there it was not far to other medical topics that still captivate her to this day. She trained as a journalist at the Axel Springer Academy in Hamburg and has been working for since 2007 - first as an editor and since 2012 as a freelance writer.
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What do day nurseries, trans fats and gross national product have to do with the frequency of asthma, hay fever and allergies? Much, as a worldwide mammoth study among children and adolescents shows
20 years of meticulous research, more than two million participants from all parts of the world: The initiators of the mammoth study ISAAC *, an international long-term study on asthma and allergies in children and adolescents, are taking stock for the first time. One of the most important findings: With the right lifestyle such as a healthy diet and renouncing nicotine - also through the parents - asthma and allergies can be prevented, report researchers from the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster (WWU).
Trio fatal
Participants in the study were children and adolescents from 106 countries. The scientists examined the frequency and prevalence of symptoms of three diseases in them: asthma, hay fever and allergy-related itchy lichen (eczema). The trio is related. Asthma can also be triggered by allergies, especially hay fever. Doctors then speak of a change of floor. Using questionnaires and clinical tests (including genetic analyzes), the researchers examined the distribution and development of the diseases.
Proper nutrition
It was found, for example, that in some countries a particularly large number of children (at least nine percent) had suffered two or three of the symptoms surveyed (asthma, hay fever, eczema) in the previous twelve months. This phenomenon has been observed in a noticeably large number of English-speaking countries. Prof. Ulrich Keil from the WWU sees the explanation in the similar diet in Great Britain, USA, Australia & Co .: "Trans fatty acids in fried dishes, in fast food, many margarines and baked goods. Mediterranean food with sea fish, vegetables, legumes , Bread, nuts and olive or rapeseed oil, on the other hand, protects. "
Nicotine, breastfeeding & Co.
Another lever that can be used to prevent asthma and allergies is to have parents (and young people) abstain from nicotine. In the study, children of smoking parents reported allergic symptoms and asthma more often than the offspring from smoke-free households.
Breastfeeding infants also has a protective effect, as the study once again confirmed. On the other hand, taking paracetamol in early childhood can contribute to the development of allergies.
Sick rich
According to ISAAC, even economic factors influence the risk of illness - at least in the case of asthma: the higher the gross national product (GNP) of a country, the more people suffer from asthma. "We were surprised by the huge differences," says Keil. "In Albania, for example, a tiny minority of less than three percent of respondents reported having had symptoms of asthma in the past twelve months; in Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Canada and the USA the proportion was ten times as high." Severe asthma is not more common in rich countries - no wonder: since medical care is better in rich countries, a worsening of symptoms can often be prevented.
Growing problem
Because the ISAAC researchers collected their data at different times - in the mid-1990s and at the beginning of the new millennium - time trends in the spread of the three diseases can be estimated. "The incidence of asthma is not increasing in rich countries, but it is in poorer countries," explains Keil. So the difference between the countries is getting smaller. "But since the greater part of the world population lives in countries with low GNP and there is also greater population growth, an ever greater part of the world population suffers from asthma."
Mediocre Germany
In a country comparison, Germany ranks in the middle for all the symptoms examined. In this country, two study centers - Münster and Greifswald - participated in ISAAC. The domestic German comparison revealed a small but subtle difference: asthma and allergies are less common in eastern Germany than in the west, which means that children and young people in Greifswald are apparently healthier in this regard. The difference in the numbers is relatively small, but statistically significant, according to the researchers.
Sociable bastards
Keil believes he knows the reason for this: "Crèches were and are more widespread in the area of the former GDR". The children there would be more exposed to germs, which means that their immune system can develop better.
For the same reason, farm children are less likely to develop allergies than their urban peers, who grow up in a more sterile environment. This has already been shown in previous studies: Little filthy sparrows who regularly romp around with their peers in their free time live healthier lives.
* ISAAC = International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood
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