‘Clean home can be risk to children’
HEALTH: An over-sterile environment in the first year of life could be one of the causes of childhood leukaemia, a study has suggested. Coupled with unlucky genetics, it can leave a child vulnerable to common infections such as flu triggering the disease, says a leading expert.
AN OVER-STERILE environment in the first year of life could be one of the causes of childhood leukaemia, a controversial study has suggested.
Coupled with unlucky genetics, it can leave a child vulnerable to common infections such as flu triggering the disease, says a leading expert.
Professor Mel Greaves, from the Institute of Cancer Research in London, claims the most common form of childhood leukaemia – acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) – could be prevented by “priming” infants’ immune systems with harmless bugs.
If the theory is backed by more evidence, a preventative treatment for the disease, which affects about one in 2,000 UK children a year, could be trialled in the next five years.
The research, published in the journal Nature Reviews Cancer, is based on a compilation of more than 30 years of work around the world investigating the origins of the disease.
Speaking at a press briefing in London, Prof Greaves said: “The research strongly suggests that ALL has a clear biological cause, and is triggered by a variety of infections in predisposed children whose immune systems have not been properly primed.
“It also busts some persistent myths about the causes of leukaemia, such as the damaging but unsubstantiated claims that the disease is commonly caused by exposure to electromagnetic waves or pollution.”
The theory could explain why ALL, which affects white blood cells, is more prevalent in affluent societies where infants are shielded from infection.
It could be the reason why babies who are not breast-fed, do not mix with other children, are born by Caesarian section or do not have siblings are more likely to develop the disease.
Prof Greaves said that early in life, the immune system needed infection to model and set itself up in the right way. He said parents should “in no way” be blamed for children developing leukaemia, but advised them to be “less fussy about common or trivial infections”.
He also urged them to encourage contact between their babies and “as many other children as possible” in the first year of life.
Prof Greaves said: “I hope this research will have a real impact on the lives of children. The most important implication is that most cases of childhood leukaemia are likely to be preventable.”
Records show ‘spikes’ of childhood leukaemia cases have come six months after flu epidemics.
The research is a new spin on the “hygiene hypothesis” that has already linked Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and childhood allergies to over-clean early environments.
It busts some persistent myths about the causes of leukaemia. Professor Mel Greaves, of London’s Institute of Cancer Research.