Think, Eat, Be Healthy

“An Epidemic Of Absence” by Moises Velasquez-Manoff: Book Review

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The Gist

Worms, bacteria and other parasites play an important role in regulating our immune system and their elimination is behind the steep rise in allergies and autoimmune diseases. This is a theory that has been gradually gaining traction in recent years among medical researchers and biologists. “An Epidemic Of Absence” by Moises Velasquez-Manoff explores this theory through a combination of scientific research papers, interviews and personal experience.

The Theory

More and more scientists are coming to believe that organisms once thought of as parasites actually play an important part in keeping us healthy. This theory was first put forward after studies of common allergies consistently showed that children raised on farms, living in more crowded houses, living in houses with more(and more diverse) bacteria and allergens(of certain kinds) and particularly with mothers raised in these conditions, showed far lower rates and levels of allergies and autoimmune disorders. The rise of allergies and autoimmune disorders, when traced back through time, seems to closely follow the elimination of certain “parasites”, bacteria and allergens from early life and from the mothers’ lives before birth of the children. Some of the conditions studied so far include asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, and hay-fever. All of the diseases are tied to an immune system that is not functioning properly, attacking irritants that are not a health threat of attacking the host body itself.

Why Would Parasites Be Good For Us?

“An Epidemic Of Absence” looks at why our immune systems no longer seem to be able to tell the difference between benign organisms and substances and invaders that pose a real threat to our health. The emerging theory being put forward looks at various worms, bacteria, viruses, etc… that have lived with, on and inside of humans for hundreds of thousands of years, some since before we emerged from Africa. All of the various organisms, from the very beginnings of modern medicine, were originally thought to be harmful and should be eliminated at all costs.

More and more evidence is piling up that the absence of some of these organisms from our environment and our bodies leads to inappropriate responses by our immune systems. It would seem that long exposure and association to these parasites has prompted our bodies to cede control of some of our immune responses to the “parasites” rather than control those immune responses itself. Without exposure to these parasites during the first few years of life or while in the womb, our immune system is left floundering, attacking organisms, substances and parts of our bodies that are harmless while causing great harm during the process.

Direct relations have been found between individuals and groups that are colonized by(or at least have regular exposure to) some organisms considered parasites and radically changed types and amounts of immune cells circulating in the blood compared to those without the parasite exposure. Medical research figured out quite a while ago that many of the bacteria living in our digestive tract are necessary for proper digestion and extraction of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. Without some of these useful bacteria we cannot even digest certain types of food.

Now the thought is dawning that exposure to other bacteria, worms and blood flukes might be necessary for us to be able to breathe pollen in the Spring without hay-fever reactions, to breathe dust mites and cat hair without developing asthma and to eat gluten and dairy without irritable bowel syndrome. It would seem from the evidence so far that our immune systems have become dependent on our early invaders to tell it how to respond appropriately. Taking away the parasites takes away an important part of our immune system regulation.

What Comes Next?

Much more research needs to be done on this topic. This is a fascinating theory that is not yet proven. All of the evidence so far is circumstantial(sort of like saying that eliminating all knives and guns would eliminate all murders). Science must show how these parasites control our immune cells in order to prove that they actually do control them.

Meanwhile, millions of people is less developed parts of the world continue to live with these “old friend” parasites and have extremely low rates of allergies and autoimmune disease. At the very least it seems we should make an effort to stop trying to eliminate other organisms living in, on and around us that we know do not cause harm. Keeping these friendly organisms happy and healthy makes it much more difficult for actively harmful organisms to gain a foothold.

This theory and the questions it raises can have profound effects on our future health. If some parasites really do control our immune system and they go extinct, we may never be able to figure out how to cure the health problems caused. If we can expose ourselves to naturally occurring organisms that evolved with us and within us to eliminate major autoimmune diseases, isn’t that much better than a lifetime of expensive drugs that partially alleviate symptoms while causing nasty side effects? Would you prefer to have a few hookworms living in your intestine and causing no symptoms or having major surgery to remove sections of perforated colon?

Book Info

Title: “An Epidemic Of Absence”

Subtitle: A New Way Of Understanding Allergies And Autoimmune Diseases

Author: Moises Velasquez-Manoff

Publisher: Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Date: September 2012