Latest news with #Ober
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Allergies seem nearly impossible to avoid — unless you're Amish
Whether triggered by pollen, pet dander or peanuts, allergies in this day and age seem nearly impossible to avoid. But one group appears virtually immune, a mystery to experts who study allergies. Despite the increasing rate of allergic diseases, both in industrialized and in developing countries, the Amish remain exceptionally - and bafflingly - resistant. Only 7 percent of Amish children had a positive response to one or more common allergens in a skin prick test, compared with more than half of the general U.S. population. Even children from other traditional farming families, who still have lower rates of allergic disease than nonfarm children, are more allergic than the Amish. Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. In fact, one Amish community living in northern Indiana is considered one of the least allergic populations ever measured in the developed world. 'Generally, across the country, about 8 to 10 percent of kids have asthma. In the Amish kids, it's probably 1 to 2 percent,' said Carole Ober, chair of human genetics at the University of Chicago. 'A few of them do have allergies, but at much, much lower rates compared to the general population.' Now, Ober and other researchers are trying to discover what makes Amish and other traditional farming communities unique, in the hopes of developing a protective treatment that could be given to young children. For instance, a probiotic or essential oil that contains substances found in farm dust, such as microbes and the molecules they produce, could stimulate children's immune systems in a way that prevents allergic disease. 'Certain kinds of farming practices, particularly the very traditional ones, have this extraordinary protective effect in the sense that, in these communities, asthma and allergies are virtually unknown,' said Donata Vercelli, a professor of cellular and molecular medicine at the University of Arizona. 'The studies that have been done in these farming populations are critical because they tell us that protection is an attainable goal.' The Amish are members of a Christian group who practice traditional farming - many live on single-family dairy farms - and use horses for fieldwork and transportation. As of 2024, around 395,000 Amish live in the United States, concentrated mostly in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. Over the past century, the incidence of allergic diseases - including hay fever (allergic rhinitis), asthma, food allergies and eczema - has increased dramatically. Hay fever, or an allergic reaction to tree, grass and weed pollens, emerged as the first recognized allergic disease in the early 1800s, climbing to epidemic levels in Europe and North America by 1900. The 1960s saw a sharp increase in the prevalence of pediatric asthma, a condition in which the airways tighten when breathing in an allergen. From the 1990s onward, there has been an upswing in the developed world in food allergies, including cow's milk, peanut and egg allergies. Urbanization, air pollution, dietary changes and an indoor lifestyle are often cited as possible factors. The 'hygiene hypothesis' - first proposed in a 1989 study by American immunologist David Strachan - suggests that early childhood exposure to microbes protects against allergic diseases by contributing to the development of a healthy immune system. The study found that hay fever and eczema were less common among children born into larger families. Strachan wondered whether unhygienic contact with older siblings served as a protection against allergies. Subsequent findings have given support to the hygiene hypothesis, such as that children who grow up with more household pets are less likely to develop asthma, hay fever or eczema. Perhaps even more beneficial than having older siblings or pets, however, is growing up on a farm. (More than 150 years ago, hay fever was known as an 'aristocratic disease,' almost wholly confined to the upper classes of society. Farmers appeared relatively immune.) This 'farm effect' has been confirmed by studies on agricultural populations around the world, including in the United States, Europe, Asia and South America. But even among farming communities, the most pronounced effect appears to be in the Amish. In a study of 60 schoolchildren by Ober, Vercelli and their colleagues, the prevalence of asthma was four times lower in the Amish as compared with the Hutterites, another U.S. farming community with a similar genetic ancestry and lifestyle. The prevalence of allergic sensitization - the development of antibodies to allergens and the first step to developing an allergy - was six times higher in the Hutterites. The researchers first ruled out a genetic cause; in fact, an analysis showed that the Amish and Hutterite children were remarkably similar in their ancestral roots. Instead, the main difference between these two populations seemed to be the amount of exposure as young children to farm animals or barns. 'The Hutterite kids and pregnant moms don't go into the animal barns. Kids aren't really exposed to the animal barns until they're like 12 or so, when they start learning how to do the work on the farm,' Ober said. 'The Amish kids are in and out of the cow barns all day long from an early age.' When analyzing samples of Amish and Hutterite house dust, they found a microbial load almost seven times higher in Amish homes. Later experiments showed that the airways of mice that inhaled Amish dust had dramatically reduced asthmalike symptoms when exposed to allergens. Mice that inhaled Hutterite dust did not receive the same benefit. Now, Ober and Vercelli are beginning to identify the protective agents in Amish dust that prevent allergic asthma. In 2023, their analysis of farm dust found proteins that act like delivery trucks, loaded with molecules produced by microbes and plants. When these transport proteins deliver their cargo to the mucus that lines the respiratory tract, it creates a protective environment that regulates airway responses and prevents inflammation. 'We don't really talk about the hygiene hypothesis as much anymore because we now understand that it's not really about how hygienic you're living,' said Kirsi Järvinen-Seppo, director of the Center for Food Allergy at the University of Rochester Medical Center. 'It's more like a microbial hypothesis, since beneficial bacteria that colonize the gut and other mucosal surfaces play a significant role.' During the first year or two of life, a baby's immune system is rapidly developing and highly malleable by environmental stimuli, such as bacteria. Some experts believe that exposing young children to certain types of beneficial bacteria can engage and shape the growing immune system in a way that reduces the risk of allergic diseases later in life. Farm dust contains a hodgepodge of bacteria shed from livestock and animal feed that isn't harmful enough to cause illness, but does effectively train the immune system to become less responsive to allergens later in life. In 2021, Järvinen-Seppo and her colleagues compared the gut microbiomes of 65 Old Order Mennonite infants from a rural community in New York with 39 urban/suburban infants from nearby Rochester. Like the Amish, the Old Order Mennonites follow a traditional agrarian lifestyle. Almost three-fourths of Mennonite infants in the study were colonized with B. infantis, a bacterium associated with lower rates of allergic diseases, in contrast to 21 percent of Rochester infants. 'The colonization rate is very low in the United States and other Western countries, compared to very high rates in Mennonite communities, similar to some developing countries,' Järvinen-Seppo said. 'This mirrors the rates of autoimmune and allergic diseases.' These clues about the origin of the farm effect represent a step toward the prevention of allergic diseases, Järvinen-Seppo says. Whatever form the treatment takes, the impact on prevention of allergic diseases, which affect millions of people worldwide and reduce quality of life, could be enormous, experts say. 'I don't know that we can give every family a cow. … But we are learning from these time-honored and very stable environments what type of substances and exposures are needed,' Vercelli said. 'Once we know that, I don't think there will be any impediment to creating protective strategies along these lines.' Related Content Family adopts a shelter dog — then learns he's the father of their late dog Can the Fed stay independent? Trump-era adviser may put it to the test. The Hubble telescope zooms in on the galaxy next door Solve the daily Crossword
Boston Globe
20-07-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
Allergies seem nearly impossible to avoid — unless you're Amish
Advertisement 'Generally, across the country, about 8 to 10 percent of kids have asthma. In the Amish kids, it's probably 1 to 2 percent,' said Carole Ober, chair of human genetics at the University of Chicago. 'A few of them do have allergies, but at much, much lower rates compared to the general population.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Now, Ober and other researchers are trying to discover what makes Amish and other traditional farming communities unique, in the hopes of developing a protective treatment that could be given to young children. For instance, a probiotic or essential oil that contains substances found in farm dust, such as microbes and the molecules they produce, could stimulate children's immune systems in a way that prevents allergic disease. 'Certain kinds of farming practices, particularly the very traditional ones, have this extraordinary protective effect in the sense that, in these communities, asthma and allergies are virtually unknown,' said Donata Vercelli, a professor of cellular and molecular medicine at the University of Arizona. 'The studies that have been done in these farming populations are critical because they tell us that protection is an attainable goal.' Advertisement The Amish are members of a Christian group who practice traditional farming - many live on single-family dairy farms - and use horses for fieldwork and transportation. As of 2024, around 395,000 Amish live in the United States, concentrated mostly in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. Over the past century, the incidence of allergic diseases - including hay fever (allergic rhinitis), asthma, food allergies and eczema - has increased dramatically. Hay fever, or an allergic reaction to tree, grass and weed pollens, emerged as the first recognized allergic disease in the early 1800s, climbing to epidemic levels in Europe and North America by 1900. The 1960s saw a sharp increase in the prevalence of pediatric asthma, a condition in which the airways tighten when breathing in an allergen. From the 1990s onward, there has been an upswing in the developed world in food allergies, including cow's milk, peanut and egg allergies. Urbanization, air pollution, dietary changes and an indoor lifestyle are often cited as possible factors. Preparing a horse team for work on a farm in Pulaski, Pennsylvania. Keith Srakocic/Associated Press The 'hygiene hypothesis' - first proposed in a 1989 study by American immunologist David Strachan - suggests that early childhood exposure to microbes protects against allergic diseases by contributing to the development of a healthy immune system. The study found that hay fever and eczema were less common among children born into larger families. Strachan wondered whether unhygienic contact with older siblings served as a protection against allergies. Advertisement Subsequent findings have given support to the hygiene hypothesis, such as that children who grow up with more household pets are less likely to develop asthma, hay fever or eczema. Perhaps even more beneficial than having older siblings or pets, however, is growing up on a farm. (More than 150 years ago, hay fever was known as an 'aristocratic disease,' almost wholly confined to the upper classes of society. Farmers appeared relatively immune.) This 'farm effect' has been confirmed by studies on agricultural populations around the world, including in the United States, Europe, Asia and South America. But even among farming communities, the most pronounced effect appears to be in the Amish. In a study of 60 schoolchildren by Ober, Vercelli and their colleagues, the prevalence of asthma was four times lower in the Amish as compared with the Hutterites, another U.S. farming community with a similar genetic ancestry and lifestyle. The prevalence of allergic sensitization - the development of antibodies to allergens and the first step to developing an allergy - was six times higher in the Hutterites. The researchers first ruled out a genetic cause; in fact, an analysis showed that the Amish and Hutterite children were remarkably similar in their ancestral roots. Instead, the main difference between these two populations seemed to be the amount of exposure as young children to farm animals or barns. 'The Hutterite kids and pregnant moms don't go into the animal barns. Kids aren't really exposed to the animal barns until they're like 12 or so, when they start learning how to do the work on the farm,' Ober said. 'The Amish kids are in and out of the cow barns all day long from an early age.' Advertisement When analyzing samples of Amish and Hutterite house dust, they found a microbial load almost seven times higher in Amish homes. Later experiments showed that the airways of mice that inhaled Amish dust had dramatically reduced asthmalike symptoms when exposed to allergens. Mice that inhaled Hutterite dust did not receive the same benefit. On Route 11 near Patten, Maine, in 2017. The Boston Globe Now, Ober and Vercelli are beginning to identify the protective agents in Amish dust that prevent allergic asthma. In 2023, their analysis of farm dust found proteins that act like delivery trucks, loaded with molecules produced by microbes and plants. When these transport proteins deliver their cargo to the mucus that lines the respiratory tract, it creates a protective environment that regulates airway responses and prevents inflammation. 'We don't really talk about the hygiene hypothesis as much anymore because we now understand that it's not really about how hygienic you're living,' said Kirsi Järvinen-Seppo, director of the Center for Food Allergy at the University of Rochester Medical Center. 'It's more like a microbial hypothesis, since beneficial bacteria that colonize the gut and other mucosal surfaces play a significant role.' During the first year or two of life, a baby's immune system is rapidly developing and highly malleable by environmental stimuli, such as bacteria. Some experts believe that exposing young children to certain types of beneficial bacteria can engage and shape the growing immune system in a way that reduces the risk of allergic diseases later in life. Farm dust contains a hodgepodge of bacteria shed from livestock and animal feed that isn't harmful enough to cause illness, but does effectively train the immune system to become less responsive to allergens later in life. Advertisement In 2021, Järvinen-Seppo and her colleagues compared the gut microbiomes of 65 Old Order Mennonite infants from a rural community in New York with 39 urban/suburban infants from nearby Rochester. Like the Amish, the Old Order Mennonites follow a traditional agrarian lifestyle. Almost three-fourths of Mennonite infants in the study were colonized with B. infantis, a bacterium associated with lower rates of allergic diseases, in contrast to 21 percent of Rochester infants. 'The colonization rate is very low in the United States and other Western countries, compared to very high rates in Mennonite communities, similar to some developing countries,' Järvinen-Seppo said. 'This mirrors the rates of autoimmune and allergic diseases.' These clues about the origin of the farm effect represent a step toward the prevention of allergic diseases, Järvinen-Seppo says. Whatever form the treatment takes, the impact on prevention of allergic diseases, which affect millions of people worldwide and reduce quality of life, could be enormous, experts say. 'I don't know that we can give every family a cow. … But we are learning from these time-honored and very stable environments what type of substances and exposures are needed,' Vercelli said. 'Once we know that, I don't think there will be any impediment to creating protective strategies along these lines.'
Hindustan Times
28-06-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Twins' Bailey Ober looks for June redemption vs. Tigers
Bailey Ober has one final chance to end his June swoon. HT Image The Minnesota Twins right-hander will pitch Saturday in the middle game of a three-game road series with the Detroit Tigers. Ober has lost all four of his June starts, surrendering 23 runs in 24 1/3 innings. The long ball has been his downfall, with Ober giving up 10 this month. Seattle hit three off him on Monday, though Ober did last seven innings. He was charged with seven runs in that 11-2 defeat, including a six-run third. "It's pretty frustrating," he said. "It feels like they're sitting on stuff or know it's coming, just because I'm not used to the types of swings on some of my stuff. Maybe they're adjusting and now it's my turn to adjust back. I feel like it's just one inning every single time and the rest of the game it's fine." Ober hasn't recorded a victory since May 3. He had five no-decisions to end May. " is a team guy, so he's feeling it not just for himself. He's feeling it for the group knowing he wants to go out and do good for this team," manager Rocco Baldelli said. Ober has made 11 career starts against Detroit, posting a 4-2 record and 3.39 ERA. In contrast to Ober, Tigers right-hander Casey Mize hasn't given up more than two earned runs in any of his four June starts. Mize, Ober's mound opponent on Saturday, was removed in the sixth inning of his outing in Tampa against the Rays due to cramping. "I hadn't left a game with cramping issues before. But this year and even in the past, when I get up into the clubhouse, like 20 minutes after the game, I cramp pretty good," Mize said. "It hasn't affected my in-game stuff until Tampa." Mize had been effective during his 80-pitch outing, only giving up one run. He did not issue a walk for a second straight start. The heat and humidity in Detroit on Saturday shouldn't be quite as intense as it was last weekend in Tampa. That might help Mize get through the game without a recurrence. "I'm hydrating like I need to," he said. "We had a meeting of the minds with the training staff, dietitian, doctors, everybody. I am doing everything by the book." Minnesota has traditionally been a tough foe for Mize. He's 1-4 with a 5.30 ERA in eight career starts against the American League Central division rival. The Twins ran their winning streak to three games with a 4-1 victory in the series opener. Byron Buxton hit a solo homer and Brooks Lee drove in two runs as Minnesota's pitching staff cooled off the American League-leading Detroit Tigers. Buxton has scored five runs during the streak and has eight home run and 19 RBIs this month while hitting .304. "It's a really big win," winning pitcher David Festa said. The Twins have allowed just two runs in the past three games following a five- game slide. Field Level Media This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
The Hindu
23-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Understanding the social, cultural and geographical contexts of Buddhism
The world is increasingly getting obsessed with self-promotion and the thinking that it alone can bring about peace and progress. The growing selfie culture is a manifestation of this daily obsession, backed by the technology of the day. Often, a 'perfect' identity is carefully curated on social media with a focus on the self. Swayed by the glitter of social media, there appears to be no actual pursuit of knowing the inner self. Eventually, this relentless self-promotion is leading to distress. The fear of having less and the desire for more have contributed to a balance sheet of unhappiness. The illusory self It's perhaps the right time to re-read the teachings of the Buddha, who argued thousands of years ago that the self is an illusion -- and that our belief in it is the cause of most, if not all, of our sufferings. Poring over ancient Buddhist texts, Jay L. Garfield, Maria Heim, and Robert H. Sharf have teamed together to dismantle notions of the self in How To Lose Yourself: An Ancient Guide to Letting Go (Princeton University Press). Their suggestion? 'Better to lose your self!' The writers contend that Buddha had argued for letting go of the self, which allows us to see more clearly the innumerable causes and conditions that come together to create our experience and that make us who we are. 'When we allow our fantasies of self to dissolve, we discover instead the radically interdependent nature of our existence.' Opening up another flank of study on the ancient religion, Douglas Ober contests the commonly held belief that Buddhism 'all but disappeared' from India after the 13th and 14th centuries, and saw a revival only in the mid to late 19th century. In his book, Dust on the Throne (Navayana), he notes that Buddhism had always been there, and that two centuries of archaeological excavation and textual scholarship now point to a long, enduring, and 'unarchived' Indian Buddhist afterlife that extends to the modern day. Ober's exhaustive research told him that Buddhism had an indelible influence on shaping modern India. As he writes in the Introduction, 'A Dependent Arising', the theory of Buddhism's 'disappearance' from the subcontinent is 'little more than a useful fiction, deployed to wash over a more complicated historical terrain involving periodic Buddhist resurgences and trans-regional pilgrimage networks.' He shows that Indian's modern Buddhist revival began nearly a century before 1956, when the Indian government celebrated '2,500 years of Buddhism' and when B.R. Ambedkar led half a million followers to convert to Buddhism. Backstory of a revival Ober argues that the 'revival of Buddhism' in colonial and postcolonial India led to a slew of movements, from Hindu reform movements, the making of Hindu nationalism, Dalit and anti-caste activism, as also Nehruvian secular democracy. He tells the stories of individuals and communities that kept Buddhism alive, not least the incredible account of J.K. Birla, eldest son of entrepreneur B.D. Birla, who financed major Buddhist constructions in pilgrimage centres like Rajgir, Sarnath, Bodh Gaya, and also in new centres of 'urban Buddhist activity', including Calcutta, Bombay, and New Delhi. While Ghanashyam Birla, J.K. Birla's younger brother, sided with Gandhi and Congress, J.K. and his father firmly supported the extreme Hindu right and the Hindu Maha Sabha, although as Ober notes, 'they never stopped supporting Gandhi either.' Efforts to resurrect Buddhist archaeological heritage are an ongoing process to help connect its monumental past with its philosophy. In his book, Casting the Buddha (Pan Macmillan India), Shashank Shekhar Sinha traces the Buddhist heritage sites and the cities they are located in to understand their larger geographical, sociocultural, and historical contexts. It is an illustrated history of Buddhist monuments in India, spanning 2,500 years. For the purposes of this book, Sinha writes in the Introduction, 'monumental history' plays on the word 'monument' and discusses Buddhist edifices, sites, and connected histories. Lives of monuments A closer look reveals how the 'lives of the monuments' resonated with the people and communities around them, including monks, laity, kings, traders, guilds, landlords, agriculturalists, and villagers. Over time, these structures have acquired different forms and meanings, and have also become important 'sites of social and cultural interactions.' The buildings are 'complex ecosystems' which capture the changing times and give an idea about belief systems, rituals, stories, and folklore. For instance, writes Sinha, the sculptured panels on the gateways of Sanchi not only depict events from the life of the Buddha but also the Jataka tales and the mythical bodhisattvas. Ober contends that Buddhism was an indispensable part of the daily lives of Indians from many walks of life. 'They spent their days reading and reinterpreting Buddhist scriptures, attending and delivering dhamma talks, building and rebuilding Buddhist shrines.' The lives of Ambedkar, Birla, Kosambi, Mahavir, Sankritayan, and many other figures 'help us realise that there is no one single identity at the heart of modern Indian Buddhism... [it] continues to have an important but often unacknowledged role in Indian society.' As Indians relived the past to find a better present and future, 'a classless, casteless, egalitarian society,' they found the Buddha, writes Ober. That as a society we have not yet been able to eradicate discrimination and poverty means the debates on issues like 'caste, inequality, morality, social order, and belonging' are not over. The quest to grasp the historical Buddha and understand his 'inherent mission' must continue, and this says a lot about our modern times and predicament. Sudhirendar Sharma is an independent writer, researcher and academic
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Yahoo
How to watch the 2025 Easter sunrise service at Ober Mountain
GATLINBURG, Tenn. (WATE) — Spend Easter morning in the Smokies at Ober Mountain's annual Easter Sunrise Service, which is at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 20. The outdoor service is set to begin at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 20. It will be led by Smoky Mountain Resort Ministries. Sunrise is expected around 6:54 a.m. East Tennessee housing market shows steady growth despite uncertainty The service will be live on WATE Channel 6 and The livestream will appear in this story before the service begins on Sunday morning. For those planning to attend in person, Ober Mountain has provided details on free transportation and parking. According to the city's website, the Gatlinburg Trams will begin running around 5 a.m. on Sunday to carry people up to the service for free until the service begins at 6:30 a.m. Free parking will also be available for those who wish to drive up the mountain. Maryville pastor reunites with family after abduction, shootout in South Africa Ober will also open early to celebrate Easter. There will be a breakfast buffet, Gospel bands, a children's Easter Egg Hunt and early access to Ober attractions. A special onsite-only wristband will also be available until 10 a.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
