The New York Times recently released an article stating that immune system function depends more on the environment and the germs you encounter than genes. Davis, director of Stanford Institute for Immunity said, “experience counts more and more as you get older.” A persons immune system adapts as they go through life to fight off diseases.
In order to study this hypothesis, scientists compared 78 pairs of twins with identical genetic makeups to 27 fraternal twins. Fraternal twins do not have identical genetics, their genetics are no more alike than siblings. Scientists know there is tremendous variation in how the immune systems of healthy individuals function. Davis asked if that's more a matter of nature or nurture, by comparing 78 pairs of twins with identical genetic makeups to 27 pairs of fraternal twins, who are no more alike genetically than any other siblings.
Researchers gave the flu vaccine to twins and found that genetics doesn’t determine how many flu fighting antibodies were produced. Davis stated that he is a strong believer of the power of dirt, but this study cant off health advice, it just shows that environment plays a huge role in what your immune system looks like.
The results of this article were
somewhat surprising to me. Everyone has heard the expression “rub some dirt on
it”, but I never thought of this as a viable option to improve immune health.
This article does not support the “rub some dirt on it” method, but it does
suggest that the germs you are exposed to truly do build your immune system.
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