What is… the hygiene hypothesis?
Put simply, the hygiene hypothesis refers to the idea that our decreasing interaction with infectious bugs and germs may leave result in some people becoming more susceptible to autoimmune attacks. As the term suggests, it is a hypothesis or idea that has been investigated by diabetes researchers since the early 1990’s.
Over time, scientists have broken the hypothesis down into two primary parts. The first involves our declining relationships with certain types of bacteria. A nice big colony of friendly gut bacteria helps keep our immune system in check. As our diets and lifestyles change, we are losing our healthy tummies and increasing our risk of developing autoimmune diseases.
The second part involves our increased use of antibiotics and antibacterial cleaning agents. The human immune system has evolved over millions of years to be constantly vigilant against external infection. Scientists have suggested that a sudden drop in exposure to certain types of infection has left the immune system a bit “bored”. Without enough to do, it then turns on itself (autoimmunity).
JDRF is funding a number of projects into the hygiene hypothesis. Ultimately, greater knowledge about our relationships with micro-organisms will help us to develop ways of preventing the onset of minimising the effect of type 1 diabetes.
Not in my case! I was always wading around in ditches and swamp from a very early age and was certainly not one of those ''Disinfectant Babies' earlier than that (I was the last of 3 children!). I DO have a very good immune system tho' and have never had the flu and rarely had infections or infected sores. I just wish it didn't attack my pancreas and now, it seems, my thyroid gland.
My daughter, 17, is type 1 diabetic and has a fraternal twin sister and two brothers. She was diagnosed at age 11 after a bike accident and then a virus. She always drank a bit more than the others but urination seemed normal. I have always used disinfectant sparingly. I think the real answer is that people with auburn genes are more suseptible. I have underactive thyroid and so do my mother's family. Her mum had underactive and dad had overactive. A possible link?
Thanks
There is also research that uber hygene is linked with ashma. my son was breast fed and we travelled around Australia camping ( not very hygenic) from when he was three months old…I was a pretty relaxed mum. Sadly he's T1 diabetic and had ashma as a child…