New research may help decrease the number of people — especially young people — struck down by the heartbreaking disease leukemia.
And it may also spur an increase in the day care business.
The reason: a new study says leukemia, the most common cancer among the young, could be warded off if a child interacts with a large number of other kids and picks up common infections. Research indicates common infections could be one of the reasons for leukemia and the more a child picks up these bugs early, the stronger the child’s body becomes to resist them later.
Some details from England’s Independent:
The world’s largest study of childhood cancers has concluded that a strong immune system, developed in response to common infections experienced in infancy, can ward off leukaemia in susceptible children.
Ruling out radiation from power lines and nuclear power stations as a major cause, researchers said childhood leukaemia originated with a genetic defect in the womb which was triggered by an abnormal immune response after birth.
The finding follows research suggesting exposure to viruses and bacteria early in life may have a crucial impact on lifelong health, affecting the later development of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and allergies.
The UK Childhood Cancer Study, launched 15 years ago, examined almost 4,000 children with cancer who were compared with almost 8,000 without cancer. Measures were made of the level of radiation in the home, smoking by parents and breast-feeding. Biological samples were also taken.
Sir Walter Bodmer, chairman of the Leukaemia Research Fund’s Medical and Scientific Advisory Panel, said: “The most plausible explanation now seems to be a challenge to the child’s immune system, quite possibly involving common infections, which cause the cancerous cells to emerge. How such a challenge triggers leukaemia remains a puzzle to be solved.”
Reuters puts it this way:
Sending very young children to daycare centers and playgroups could help protect them from childhood leukemia, researchers said on Friday.
Unknown infections, along with a genetic default that occurs before birth, are the most likely cause of childhood leukemia, they added in a study….
“The crucial second event is some kind of infection,� said Greaves.
In a separate study to be published online by the British Medical Journal on Friday, scientists found that children who attend day care center or playgroups during the first few months of their life are less likely to develop leukemia.
“Our results provide further support that social activity with other infants and children during the first few months of life protects against acute lymphoblastic leukemia,� said Clare Gilham, of the Institute of Cancer Research, referring to the most common type of childhood leukemia.
“We conclude that some degree of early exposure to infection seems to be important for child health,� she added.
MORE RESOURCES
Leukemia Research Foundation
Luekemia & Lymphoma Society
National Cancer Institute
Childhoold Leukemia Center
Google Search Page For “Daycares”
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.