Hello. My name is Matthew.
Reporting to you live from the Henry Ford Health System.
Welcome back to CAAIR News Now.
The news station that wants to help people understand more about asthma and
allergy research. But wait, you might be thinking to yourself, what is asthma?
What is an allergy? Asthma is a health problem that makes it hard to breath.
An allergy is your immune system's reaction to certain plants, animals, food,
insect bites, and other things.
Our immune system is like our body's security guard. If it senses danger,
it will set off alarms in our body to try and protect us.
Allergies and asthma are connected to our immune system.
I want to know why do people get asthma or allergies?
So I'm here to investigate the situation.
I heard the best place to start is with the department chair in public health
sciences, because she's been doing research here for over 30 years.
Come on and join me for an immune system investigative report.
Hey, do you know where I can find the person that runs this place?
Hi.
Are you the boss around here? Why are there dogs in here?
Hi Matthew. Yes. I'm Dr. Christine Johnson.
It's funny you should ask about the dogs.
I've been doing research on how having a pet in your house can change your risk
for having allergies and asthma. And guess what?
Being around dogs can affect the bacteria in your home and in your digestive
system.
This can affect whether or not a child gets allergies and asthma because these
bacteria,
they seem to be very important for the immune system and how it develops and how
it works to keep us healthy. Wow.
I never knew that having a dog could change your health.
What do you know about food allergies? Well,
for that, you're going to have to find the other Christine.
Are you the other doctor Christine? The one who looks at food allergies? Hi.
I thought you might be stopping by. I'm Dr. Christine Joseph. Great.
So what can you tell me about food allergies today?
I'm investigating the immune system. Well,
know that babies that develop allergies to some foods are more
likely to develop asthma later in life. Wow.
So how did you connect asthma to food allergies?
It's kind of like putting the pieces of a puzzle together.
Food allergy usually occurs before asthma.
So if we can understand what causes food allergy,
it will give us a better understanding of what causes asthma.
Allergies and asthma are both connected to how our immune system is
working. But guess what else is a big piece of this puzzle?
The bacteria in your digestive system. You need to go find Dr. Zoratti,
he knows all about it.
Are you the last doctor I need to talk to? And what are you looking at?
My name is Ed Zoratti, I'm an allergy doctor here at Henry Ford.
Really I was just looking at a map of the city of Detroit and thinking about all
the places people can go and all the things they can come into contact with.
You know,
a pregnant woman when she goes to different places and comes into contact with
different things, it can change the bacteria in her body.
And then that bacteria can actually change her immune system
and her babies.
And you already know that the immune system can even affect whether you have
allergies or asthma.
Cool. Thanks. I would have never known without this investigation.
Thanks for helping me solve this piece of the puzzle.
Oh, no problem, Matt. Glad to help out.
Well, there you have it folks. Our immune system investigation case is closed,
at least until Dr. Johnson, Joseph and Zoratti complete more research.
You can stay up to date on all things allergy and asthma research by visiting
their website. That is all we have for you today. Thanks for watching.
And don't forget to tune in next time.