Why are asthma rates soaring?

• Autores: Veronique Greenwood
• Localización: Scientific American, ISSN 0036-8733, Vol. 304, Nº. 4, 2011, págs. 32-33
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The article discusses the causes for increased rates of asthma worldwide. Topics include an overview of the hygiene hypothesis, which states that better sanitary conditions have deprived the human immune systems from programming itself against infectious agents caused by viruses, bacteria, and parasites, that would normally occur during childhood, a discussion on how a collapse in the hygiene hypothesis as a general explanation for asthma led scientists to rethink the complexity of the condition, and controversy regarding exposure to unhygienic conditions as a means to protect against developing asthma.