Gut Reaction: An Ulcer-Causing Bug May also Help Prevent Asthma [News]
A common belly bug once thought to be harmful may have beneficial effects early in life. Researchers at the New York University (N.Y.U.) Langone Medical Center have found that a lack of Helicobacter pylori--a microbe that thrives in the human stomach--may be linked to childhood asthma and other allergies.They report in The Journal of Infectious Diseases that children ages three to 13 years were 59 percent less likely to have asthma and 69 percent less likely to have hay fever and other childhood allergies if they tested positive for the bacterium. The question is whether the benefits outweigh the potential risks later in life. H. pylori has been linked to the development of peptic ulcers and gastric cancer in adults after their third decade. [More]