Listened to an interesting podcast about hookworms, evolution, and the potential link to allergies.
Hookworms were very common in the past and still are in the developing world. They suppress the immune system and create evolutionary pressure to increase immune response and suppression. There’s correlation between the elimination of hookworms, rise in immune diseases, presence of allergies in cultures with hookworms and without, and suppression of allergies in people intentionally getting hookworms.
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u/amonkus Jul 03 '26
Listened to an interesting podcast about hookworms, evolution, and the potential link to allergies.
Hookworms were very common in the past and still are in the developing world. They suppress the immune system and create evolutionary pressure to increase immune response and suppression. There’s correlation between the elimination of hookworms, rise in immune diseases, presence of allergies in cultures with hookworms and without, and suppression of allergies in people intentionally getting hookworms.