Saturday, May 22, 2004

It turns out intestinal worms may be a good thing. [tingilinde] Maybe it is not that they are good in themselves, but that the human immune system had evolved counter-counter-measures to worm anti-immune countermeasures, since before modern hygiene everyone had worms. I don't know the genetic details of these auto-immune diseases, but it is conceivable that there may be a recessive mutation that leads to an especially aggressive bowel immune response, as there are for many other diseases. With worms gone, that extreme response might turn against the bowel. 11:03:05 AM