Cancer and the "hygiene hypothesis"
The degree of cleanliness of the house was associated with oncological diseases in children
Natalia Pelezneva, Naked Science
British biologist Mel Greaves (Mel Greaves) from the London Institute of Cancer Research said: the desire of parents to maintain sterile cleanliness at home can be dangerous for children. According to the scientist, too thorough cleaning can destroy a variety of microorganisms, interaction with which makes the child's body more resistant to diseases. Greaves analyzed about 200 studies published over the past 30 years. The review of A causal mechanism for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is published in the journal Nature Reviews Cancer.
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a rapidly developing oncological disease of the hematopoiesis system. This is the most common type of leukemia in children, boys are more prone to it than girls. There is an active discussion about the causes of the disease: they include genetic predisposition, exposure to radiation and the influence of certain infections.
Greaves believes that the development of ALL involves two separate elements. The first is mutations that lead to the appearance of hybrid (chimeric) genes that make the immune system more vulnerable. Infections, including seasonal flu, can trigger the second stage, at which lymphoblastic cells begin to multiply uncontrollably. Perhaps this is because the vulnerable immune system reacts too actively to infectious diseases.
According to scientific papers that Greaves has researched, environmental cleanliness can play an important role in preparing the immune system to face "serious" infections, including the flu. According to several studies, leukemia often developed in laboratory animals that were kept in sterile conditions. At the same time, the disease was less often detected in children who attended a nursery or grew up in families with several brothers or sisters: constant communication with other children increases the diversity of bacteria that a child encounters. According to Greaves, exposure to microorganisms "trains" the immune system and subsequently contributes to a normal response to infections. Overzealous cleaning can reduce this beneficial effect – especially in infants who rarely have contact with other children.
The scientist believes that this information in the future can become the basis of methods for the prevention of leukemia – for example, vaccines that mimic the effects of bacteria. Whether this is possible, further research will show.
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