The study contradicts common belief about allergies

But a study now shows that the solution may not be to expose children to traditional sources of allergies such as pollen, dust and pets early in life.

The idea that our immune system needs contact with different natural environments to prevent allergies and inflammatory diseases may be wrong, according to the results of a study conducted by researchers at the University of Freiburg and the Karolinska Institutet.

Different upbringing – same symptoms

Their experiments were based on two groups of genetically similar mice.

One group was raised in a sterile laboratory environment, and the other group was raised under more natural conditions and thus exposed to small organisms such as bacteria and fungi – so-called microbes.

The two groups of mice were then exposed to several known allergens to study how their immune systems reacted.

Surprisingly, both groups of mice developed the same inflammatory responses when exposed to these substances.

The results do not necessarily completely disprove the hygiene hypothesis, but they do show that the hypothesis does not fully understand how our immune system reacts to allergens, explains the study’s lead author.

“The findings could completely change our view of the hygiene hypothesis and lead the field to look more closely at other factors, such as indoor living, physical activity, pollution, and chemical compounds found in the modern world,” says Stephen Rosehart, a public health scientist. Research group leader at the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Freiburg, in one press release.

Many questions remain

According to my authors the study The next step will be to explore the specific effects of individual microbes on the immune system of mice.

This is because it is still unclear whether lifelong exposure to certain microbes is necessary to mitigate allergic reactions, or whether short-term exposure at an early age provides long-term benefits.