過敏癥可能與洗碗方式有關

A new study suggests that parents who wash theirdishes by hand, rather than in a dishwashingmachine, may unwittingly lower the likelihood thattheir children will develop allergies.

一項新研究表明，父母用手洗碗——而不是用洗碗機——可能在無意中降低孩子患過敏的可能性。

The new study, published in the journal Pediatrics,looked at whether a number of behaviors thatexpose children to bacteria early in life mightprotect them from developing allergies later on. Theidea, known as the hygiene hypothesis, is thatchildren raised in particularly sanitized environments are less likely to develop an immunetolerance to trivial threats.

這項新研究發(fā)表在《兒科學》(Pediatrics)雜志上，它研究的是一些讓兒童接觸細菌的行為能否防止日后出現(xiàn)過敏。這個觀點被稱為衛(wèi)生假說，它認為在特別干凈的環(huán)境中養(yǎng)大的孩子更加難以對無關緊要的威脅產(chǎn)生免疫力。

 

 

The researchers followed roughly 1,000 young children and their parents living in theGothenburg area of Sweden. They investigated behaviors like whether the parents fed theirchildren foods purchased directly from farms, such as eggs, meat and unpasteurized milk. Theylooked into whether the children ate fermented foods, which have beneficial probiotic bacteria.And they looked into whether the parents washed their dishes by hand or used a dishwasher.

研究者調(diào)查了瑞典哥德堡地區(qū)約1000名幼兒及其父母的生活。他們調(diào)查的行為包括：父母是否用直接從農(nóng)場買來的食物喂養(yǎng)孩子，比如雞蛋、肉類和未經(jīng)高溫消毒的牛奶;這些孩子是否食用含有益生菌的發(fā)酵食物;這些父母是用手還是用洗碗機洗碗。

Then they examined whether the children had allergic conditions including asthma, eczema andhay fever. Ultimately, the researchers found that children raised in households where disheswere always washed by hand had half the rate of allergies. They also discovered that thisrelationship was amplified if the children also ate fermented foods or if the families bought fooddirectly from local farms.

然后他們調(diào)查這些孩子是否患有哮喘、濕疹或花粉病等過敏癥。最后，研究者發(fā)現(xiàn)，在一直用手洗碗的家庭長大的孩子患過敏的比率是用洗碗機洗碗的家庭的一半。他們還發(fā)現(xiàn)，如果這些孩子也吃發(fā)酵食物或直接從當?shù)剞r(nóng)場購買的食物，這種聯(lián)系更為明顯。

The findings demonstrated only an association, not cause and effect, so it was not clearwhether these behaviors directly led to fewer allergies. But it may be the case that thesebehaviors expose children to innocuous bacteria, which can help strengthen their immunesystems, said Bill Hesselmar, an assistant professor at the University of Gothenburg and leadauthor of the study.

這些發(fā)現(xiàn)只是表明一種聯(lián)系，而非因果關系，所以仍不明確這些行為能否直接導致更少出現(xiàn)過敏。但是這項研究的主要作者、哥德堡大學的助理教授比爾·海瑟瑪(Bill Hesselmar)說，情況可能是，這些行為能讓孩子接觸無害細菌，從而提高免疫力。

Dr. Hesselmar said that while the sanitizing effect of dishwashing machines can be a good thing,the “less efficient” method of washing dishes by hand might leave behind some bacteria thatcould have benefits. But he said more research was needed to see if the relationship they foundwas real and, if so, what was causing it.

海瑟瑪博士說，洗碗機的消毒作用可能是有益的，但是用手洗碗這種“不那么高效”的方式可能會留下一些有益細菌。但是他說，需要進行更多研究來確定他們發(fā)現(xiàn)的這種關系是否屬實，如果屬實的話，原因是什么。

“It’s an interesting finding and very surprising,” he said. “But we have to see if we can confirmit.”

“這是個有趣的發(fā)現(xiàn)，非常令人意外，”他說，“但是我們必須看看能否證實它。”