Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Article after article extolling the virtues of helminths’ ability to prevent allergies and autoimmune diseases always end in quotes like this:
“The hope is that the work could aid the development of new treatments which work in the same way as gut parasites, by dampening down or rebalancing the immune system so that the body does [...]
Monday, September 14, 2009
Very entertaining radio show on parasites:
http://blogs.wnyc.org/radiolab/2009/09/07/parasites/
And no, this isn’t an alien…
First, they start with Carl Zimmer, a parasitologist who talks about amazing interactions between parasites and hosts. Then they discuss the hookworm eradication project, where it was found that the South was suffering from anemia, not laziness, and outhouses changed the course of history. Then, [...]
3 new reviews in Immunology on how helminths are part of the missing link epidemiologically, along with certain other infections, and are probably the reason for the rise in autoimmunity, allergies, certain cancers, depression, nuerological diseases, and atherosclerosis. Click on the HTML or PDF link and you can read them in full.
Rook GAW; Review [...]
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Another article on worms and the hygiene hypothesis from the BBC. And a detailed, follow-up article that lists the three new Immunology articles that provoked these articles. The popularity of this in recent press is very exciting. Of course, they always say they’re looking for the molecule that the worms ilicit in [...]
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Yet another article in the NY Times on why babies should be allowed to eat dirt, children should be allowed to run barefoot and not clean their hands before they eat. Basically, the hygiene hypothesis with more quotes from Weinstock and Elliott. Worms, they state, are probably the biggest players in training the [...]