Daily Dose of DrGreene

Cows, Cats, Siblings, and Immune Health

Regular contact with farm animals is associated with a dramatically lower risk of a young child's later developing an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) such as Crohn disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC), according to a fascinating study in the August 2007 Pediatrics. This is consistent with previous studies that showed early contact with farm animals could lower the risk of asthma, eczema, and allergies. The theory that children living in environments that are too sterile tend to develop more allergic and autoimmune diseases is called the hygiene hypothesis . Exposure to a variety of microbes could be important while the young immune system is learning how to react.

Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis are autoimmune conditions, where the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the person's gut. In the current study, the protective effect of farm animals was most pronounced with at least... (continue reading)

Alan Greene MD FAAP

Get the Lead Out!

The world’s largest toy company has recalled almost 1 million toys because their manufacturer in China used lead-containing paint to color the loveable characters of Elmo, Big Bird, Dora the Explorer, Diego, and others. Lead is a cheap way to make bright colors last; it is also toxic to children’s growing brains if it gets in their mouths. Lead is a vivid example of how some industrial chemicals can impact health. At blood levels less than 10 millionths of a gram (per dL) it can decrease intelligence. At levels as low as 2 millionths of a gram, it can quadruple the odds of developing ADHD. In fact, environmental lead getting into kids’ bodies is the single largest known cause of ADHD in the US, calculated to account for about 290,000 cases in this country alone, or about 16 percent of all ADHD. The younger the child, the bigger the impact – with unborn babies at the highest risk. But what about the other environmental causes of this and other...(continue reading)

Alan Greene MD FAAP