Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Dirt may explain why richest countries suffer diseases rarely seen anywhere else

smithsonianmag.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 62 posts

Re: Dirt may explain why richest countries suffer diseases rarely seen anywhere else

#41

Post by prawn »

Volpe wrote: post #25
josephagoss wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting generalization, I am from a very rich country (Australia) and everyone I know is extremely hard working.(myself and my colleges are however, not rich in our land) Everyone is living life well, studying hard or working. I am unfamiliar with any "lazy-fat-fucks" in my neck of the woods yet I should be seeing them everywhere due to your over the top criteria. (Being in a rich country)

Caveat: Working Hard in Australia - might be considered "Lazy and fat" in another country. 40 hour work weeks is hardly "Working extremely hard"

Working doesn't necessarily stop at the end of the typical working week or even 40 hours in that case. Working hard can include renovating your own house, toiling in your own garden, cooking, cleaning, volunteering, networking, all sorts of things.

Re: Dirt may explain why richest countries suffer diseases rarely seen anywhere else

#42

Post by aneth4 »

After living in China for 4 years, my allergies are gone, and while I got sick here a lot then, I have not had a serious cold in 6 years.

The allergy experience mimics many other people who spent time in Asia. The no colds - I think it's related, but most people do still get sick. I used to get terrible colds every few months my entire life. I can now scuba dive because my ears aren't constantly damaged by frequent sickness and fluids.

My theory has always been that allergies are a symptom of an under-utilized and under-exercised immune system. Our bodies are designed to be under constant attack. Much like the US is unable to resist invading countries when the world is at peace, our immune system can't stand a sterile body with no foes.

Re: Dirt may explain why richest countries suffer diseases rarely seen anywhere else

#43

Post by wslh »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #27
wslh wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ironically that's what the Argentinian President said one week ago http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2293564/Diabetes-ric...

Are you sure he wasn't talking about type 2?

She was not scientific on her speech and since she often lies it is not something to take very seriously.

Re: Dirt may explain why richest countries suffer diseases rarely seen anywhere else

#44

Post by strebler »

Zimahl wrote: post #24

I can buy trying to figure out allergies, but Type I diabetes? It's clearly hereditary, rarely showing up without some family link. Finland may have a high rate due to a lack of ethnic diversity.

Clearly? Identical twins do not have the same likeliness of developing T1DM. Genetics do not explain why we have had a significant global growth (~3% per year) in the number of cases of Type 1 Diabetes Melanoma (T1DM) in recent decades. There are even a number of vaccines in development (with early successes).

In many cases a T1DM diagnosed child was sick with a cold/flu immediately prior to onset of T1DM. Disease has been theorized for quite a long time to influence the immune system's reaction. A large majority of T1DM cases are diagnosed in winter, Vitamin D / sunlight has been hypothesized to play a role - more northern countries tend to have higher rates.

Even in the hereditary factor, here is research indicating that epigenetics play a role - timing of food shortages during our grandparents' lives significantly increases likeliness of T1DM. That appears to be an environmental factor tweaking our genes.

Re: Dirt may explain why richest countries suffer diseases rarely seen anywhere else

#45

Post by ndonnellan »

jasonkester wrote: post #37

I'm going to filter this through my skewed outlook on the world and conclude that it's another datapoint in support of travelling the world as much as possible. We uprooted our 10 month old son last winter and set up shop in a little fishing village in Nicaragua for a few months. He spent his time eating the local dirt while we surfed. And now we have conclusive proof that this was the Best Thing We Could Have Possib…

"And now we have conclusive proof". Confirmation bias? Did you read the same article I did?

>> Scientists believe dirt could explain why some of the wealthiest countries suffer from afflictions rarely seen in less-developed nations

The plural of anecdote is not data. Even on HN.

Re: Dirt may explain why richest countries suffer diseases rarely seen anywhere else

#46

Post by hexagonc »

webwielder wrote: post #16

That's why I ride the MUNI each and every day.

Fun anecdote: There was a worse than usual flu season here in Boston and since a lot of other people in the office were getting sick, I was wondering if I should get the flu vaccine. Being lazy, I didn't bother with the vaccine, yet I have never once gotten the flu, despite taking a crowded bus and subway to work every day. Furthermore, I don't recall the subway or buses ever being filled with lots of sick people. I suspect most of the sick people in the office drove to work.

Re: Dirt may explain why richest countries suffer diseases rarely seen anywhere else

#47

Post by jasonkester »

ndonnellan wrote: post #45
jasonkester wrote: post #37

I'm going to filter this through my skewed outlook on the world and conclude that it's another datapoint in support of travelling the world as much as possible. We uprooted our 10 month old son last winter and set up shop in a little fishing village in Nicaragua for a few months. He spent his time eating the local dirt while we surfed. And now we have conclusive proof that this was the Best Thing We Could Have Possib…

"And now we have conclusive proof". Confirmation bias? Did you read the same article I did? >> Scientists believe dirt could explain why some of the wealthiest countries suffer from afflictions rarely seen in less-developed nations The plural of anecdote is not data. Even on HN.

More conclusive proof that tone doesn't come across well in writing. Re-read that comment and try to imagine the silly grin on the face of the author as he states things that are clearly not true even to the most biased observer as though they were fact, sure in the knowledge that he doesn't need to qualify that it's meant to be humorous, as that is clearly implied.

Re: Dirt may explain why richest countries suffer diseases rarely seen anywhere else

#49

Post by ndonnellan »

jasonkester wrote: post #47
ndonnellan wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"And now we have conclusive proof". Confirmation bias? Did you read the same article I did? >> Scientists believe dirt could explain why some of the wealthiest countries suffer from afflictions rarely seen in less-developed nations The plural of anecdote is not data. Even on HN.

More conclusive proof that tone doesn't come across well in writing. Re-read that comment and try to imagine the silly grin on the face of the author as he states things that are clearly not true even to the most biased observer as though they were fact, sure in the knowledge that he doesn't need to qualify that it's meant to be humorous, as that is clearly implied.

Apologies. I get frustrated with irony of personal stories usually following an article which is discussing the scientific method. I rarely respond; probably should keep it that way. xP

Re: Dirt may explain why richest countries suffer diseases rarely seen anywhere else

#50

Post by CasimirCelerity »

cajuntrep wrote: post #8
lawtguy wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find the "Old Friends" hypothesis a good answer for why hygiene causes allergies: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1774411/ The basic idea is that the human immune system has co-evolved with a number of immune suppressing parasites. Hygiene has greatly reduced the number of these parasites we're exposed to and without them the human immune system is too reactive. That extra reactivity results in our immu…

Cool link on the Helminthic therapy! I've never heard of it before.

It's a pretty cool idea. Although it's a tad simplistic way to consider the immune system, our bodies mount two types of responses: Th1 and Th2. Th1 favors our immune cells directly killing our own cells and baddies. Th2 favors our immune cells producing lots of antibodies which then tag baddies for destruction.

In Crohn's disease, our bodies, for whatever reason, seem to be skewed towards producing a really unnecessary Th1 response in the gut which causes our bodies to self-destruct the GI tract. By giving hookworms to a patient, the hope is that the needed worm-killing Th2 response (worms are too big for really an effective Th1 response and need to be coated in antibodies and essentially repeatedly nuked with cytotoxic chemicals) will shift the balance in the patient's gut from Th1 towards Th2, thus eliminating their Crohn's manifestations and symptoms. Really cool idea.

Post reply on HN