Parasitic Worms May Protect You Against Allergy

According to study, gut parasites could hold the key to increasingly common conditions such as eczema, asthma and hay fever. these parasitic worms such as hookworms, might aid the development of new treatments for allergies.

These parasites have evolved together with their human hosts for million years. Over time, these parasites have developed ways of surviving in the human gut by turning down the immune response directed against them, prolonging their survival inside the host.

This relationship seems to have become so intertwined that without gut worms or other parasites, our immune system can become unbalanced, which, in turn, could contribute to the development of asthma and other allergies.

A researcher examined the links between worms and allergic diseases in Vietnamese children and found that those with the highest level of hoowkworm infestation were the least likely to have an allergic response to house dust mites.

These findings support the hypothesis that gastrointestinal infection with either hookworm or other micro-organisms protects against allergy and add further weight to the so-called ‘hygiene hypothesis’. Hygiene hypothesis suggests that high rates of allergies and asthma in developed countries are a result of our immune systems becoming unbalanced due to improved sanitation and hygienic lifestyles that no longer expose us to the same array of bacteria, viruses or parasites.

Some universities are leading the way in the investigation of links between hookworm infestaion - or lack of it- and human illness. They are conducting some trials on the possibility that hookworm infection may alleviate symptoms of hay fever and Crohn’s disease.

If these studies show positive results, future drugs that mmic immunological effects of hookworm infection could provide promising therapeutic options for patients with allergic and other autoimmune disease.