Allergies and Probiotics

Allergies have become  widespread in developed countries: hay fever, eczema, hives and asthma are all increasingly prevalent. The reason? Excessive cleanliness is to blame according to Dr Guy Delespesse, a professor at the Université de Montréal Faculty of Medicine. "There is an inverse relationship between the level of hygiene and the incidence of allergies and autoimmune diseases," says Dr Delespesse. "The more sterile the environment a child lives in, the higher the risk he or she will develop allergies or an immune problem in their lifetime." In 1980, 10 percent of the Western population suffered from allergies. Today, it is 30 percent. In 2010, one out of 10 children is said to be asthmatic and the mortality rate resulting from this affliction increased 28 percent between 1980 and 1994.

"It’s not just the prevalence but the gravity of the cases," says Dr Delespesse. "Regions in which the sanitary conditions have remained stable have also maintained a constant level of allergies and inflammatory diseases." Why does this happen? "The bacteria in our digestive system are essential to digestion and also serve to educate our immune system. They teach it how to react to strange substances. This remains a key in the development of a child’s immune system."

Although hygiene does reduce our exposure to harmful bacteria it also limits our exposure to beneficial microorganisms. As a result, the bacterial flora of our digestive system isn’t as rich and diversified as it used to be.

Dr Delespesse recommends probiotics to enrich our intestinal flora. Probiotics are intestinal bacteria that have a beneficial impact on health. They’ve been used for decades to make yoghurt. Probiotics have a proven effect on treating diarrhoea, and studies are increasingly concluding similar benefits for the immune system and allergies.

"Consuming probiotics during pregnancy could help reduce allergies in the child," says Dr Delespesse. "They are not a miracle remedy, yet they are one of many elements that improve our diet and our health."

Source: Université de Montréal: April 2010; http://www.myvmc.com/news, Friday 5 September 2014