Jul 25, 2008 7:24 pm US/Eastern
'Good Bacteria' May Help Ward Off Asthma In Kids
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
A little bug that can cause stomach pains in adults may actually be beneficial in kids.
It's a bacterium that has been linked to stomach ulcers in adults and doctors have considered a it nuisance for many years. Now there's new evidence that this nuisance may help ward off asthma in kids.
The tiny bug that may help kids breath easier is called H. pylori.
"H. pylori lives in the human stomach," explained Dr. Martin Blaser with NYU Langone Medical Center.
It's known the microbe can increase the risk of stomach ulcers. But a new study by doctors Martin Blaser and Yu Chen reveals a possible benefit from the bug.
"Children that had H. pylori were much less likely to develop asthma, hay fever and eczema and other allergic skin conditions," Blaser said.
In fact, kids with the stomach bacteria were 30 to 60 percent less likely to develop asthma
but it's not clear why.
"If we can understand the mechanism of how that worked maybe it will help us to prevent asthma," Chen said.
In recent decades the bug has been slowly disappearing from the population. Part of the reason is during that time antibiotic use has increased dramatically.
The drugs kill H. pylori and experts believe this may explain why asthma cases are on the rise.
"At the same time H. pylori is going down, asthma is going up," Blaser said.
Blaser believes the microbe may hold the key to future asthma and allergy treatments.
"Maybe we'll find a milder form of H. pylori that we can give to kids that will give us the benefits without giving us the risk," Blaser said.
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