Posted on 05/04/2012 10:07:46 PM PDT by neverdem
Amish children raised on rural farms in northern Indiana suffer from asthma and allergies less often even than Swiss farm kids, a group known to be relatively free from allergies, according to a new study.
"The rates are very, very low," said Dr. Mark Holbreich, the study's lead author. "So there's something that we feel is even more protective in the Amish" than in European farming communities.
What it is about growing up on farms -- and Amish farms in particular -- that seems to prevent allergies remains unclear.
Researchers have long observed the so-called "farm effect" -- the low allergy and asthma rates found among kids raised on farms -- in central Europe, but less is known about the influence of growing up on North American farms.
Holbreich, an allergist in Indianapolis, has been treating Amish communities in Indiana for two decades, but he noticed that very few Amish actually had any allergies.
As studies on the farm effect in Europe began to emerge several years ago, Holbreich wondered if the same phenomenon might be found in the United States.
He teamed up with European colleagues to compare Swiss farming children and non-farming children to Amish kids in Indiana.
Amish families, who can trace their roots back to Switzerland, typically farm using methods from the 1800s and they don't own cars or televisions.
The researchers surveyed 157 Amish families, about 3,000 Swiss farming families, and close to 11,000 Swiss families who did not live on a farm -- all with children between the ages of six and 12.
They found that just five percent of Amish kids had been diagnosed with asthma, compared to 6.8 percent of Swiss farm kids and 11.2 percent of the other Swiss children.
Similarly, among 138 Amish kids given a skin-prick test to determine...
(Excerpt) Read more at ca.news.yahoo.com ...
Snake oil has always sold well in a free market. So do lottery tickets. So do the scams sold on late night infomercials.
The free market is wonderful opportunity to sell sorts of things - including snake oil and chirquacktic to gullible people searching for a solution to what ails them. Gimmicks work. Just look at all the stuff that gets bought because its “free” or “up to 50% off and more” or “guaranteed”.
Yes.
However, you posted that they ate little processed food. I gathered your point was addressed to allergies.
They do eat processed food. I added the other points because they were, IMO, germane to the idea that Amish live isolated from our culture. They do not, and I refer to my neighbors, who are Old Order, known locally as Shoeless Amish.
Subsequent posts referenced raw milk and other ideas. I added the raw egg information, because , again, IMO, it points out that even Amish-raised eggs, like milk, can carry disease.
Sorry if I strayed from post guidelines.
This peanut allergy thing, real or imagined, is not confined to this country. My wife has a nephew who lives in Scotland who has it. But I think you might be on to something as far as misdiagnosing these allergies. Similar to the mania for giving every kid , usually a boy, who can’t still still in the classroom a dose of Ritalin. Weird.
Keep stirring the crap around.
Isn't it also a pollutant since it has oil (fat) in it? If there's a milk spill, don't they call out the oil cleanup people?
sadly...I don’t find that surprising.
sigh
"Our folks are really wanting people to be aware of it. They want to be aware that this is causing people to get sick because they may have product in their homes. For every one that is reported, there may be 29 others," Russell said.--snip--
The recall covers a number of pet food brands made at the Gaston plant, including Canidae, Natural Balance, Apex, Kirkland, Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul, Country Value, Diamond, Diamond Naturals, Premium Edge, Professional, 4Health and Taste of the Wild.
FReepmail me if you want on or off my combined microbiology/immunology ping list.
Motion to strike. Cumulative.
They do that too - apparently being a boy is now some sort of illness.
As far as the peanut allergies go, they apparently do tests that cannot differentiate between an allergy to birch pollen (which is very common and not life-threatening) and an ingested peanut allergy. What’s worse, peanut allergies vary in severity and you can’t actually diagnose a life-threatening peanut allergy without feeding them peanuts.
It’s the raw milk farmers who stir crap around, LOL.
You said that about 3 1/2 hours ago.
Engaging in the production and sale of this dangerous substance has prompted the FBI to conduct undercover sting operations against these amish criminals!
...........
so do you think the amish or the FBI is criminal
The amish criminal? LOL.
Both my brother and I had terrible allergies(still do) and severe asthma. So much for fitting into this study.
Hormesis - the deadly enemy to a liberal’s perfect world.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.