Innate Immunity and Asthma Risk in Amish and Hutterite Farm Children

The Amish and the Hutterites are farming communities with similar gene pools, but asthma and allergy are more common in Hutterites. The authors provide data that support the idea that the Amish environment stimulates the innate immune response and protects the children from asthma. Many genetic risk factors have been reported to modify susceptibility to asthma and allergy, 1 , 2 but the dramatic increase in the prevalence of these conditions in westernized countries in the past half-century suggests that the environment also plays a critical role. 3 The importance of environmental exposures in the development of asthma is most exquisitely illustrated by epidemiologic studies conducted in Central Europe that show significant protection from asthma and allergic disease in children raised on traditional dairy farms. In particular, children’s contact with farm animals and the associated high microbial exposures 4 , 5 have been related to the reduced risk. 6 , . . .