A short history from Karelia study to biodiversity and public health interventions

Contact with natural environments enriches the human microbiome, promotes immune balance and protects against allergies and inflammatory disorders. In Finland, the allergy & asthma epidemic became slowly visible in mid 1960s. After the World War II, Karelia was split into Finnish and Soviet Unio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Frontiers in allergy 2023, Vol.4, p.1152927-1152927
Main Authors: Haahtela, Tari, Alenius, Harri, Auvinen, Petri, Fyhrquist, Nanna, von Hertzen, Leena, Jousilahti, Pekka, Karisola, Piia, Laatikainen, Tiina, Lehtimäki, Jenni, Paalanen, Laura, Ruokolainen, Lasse, Saarinen, Kimmo, Valovirta, Erkka, Vasankari, Tuula, Vlasoff, Tiina, Erhola, Marina, Bousquet, Jean, Vartiainen, Erkki, Mäkelä, Mika J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Allergy
allergy epidemic
allergy programme
asthma
biodiversity hypothesis
climate change
Karelia Allergy Study
Medicin och hälsovetenskap
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Summary:Contact with natural environments enriches the human microbiome, promotes immune balance and protects against allergies and inflammatory disorders. In Finland, the allergy & asthma epidemic became slowly visible in mid 1960s. After the World War II, Karelia was split into Finnish and Soviet Union (now Russia) territories. This led to more marked environmental and lifestyle changes in the Finnish compared with Russian Karelia. showed that allergic conditions were much more common on the Finnish side. The Russians had richer gene-microbe network and interaction than the Finns, which associated with better balanced immune regulatory circuits and lower allergy prevalence. In the Finnish adolescents, a biodiverse natural environment around the homes associated with lower occurrence of allergies. Overall, the plausible explanation of the allergy disparity was the prominent change in environment and lifestyle in the Finnish Karelia from 1940s to 1980s. The nationwide implemented the biodiversity hypothesis into practice by endorsing immune tolerance, nature contacts, and allergy health with favorable results. A regional health and environment programme, , has been initiated in the City of Lahti, EU Green Capital 2021. The programme integrates prevention of chronic diseases (asthma, diabetes, obesity, depression), nature loss, and climate crisis in the spirit of . Allergic diseases exemplify inappropriate immunological responses to natural environment. Successful management of the epidemics of allergy and other non-communicable diseases may pave the way to improve human and environmental health.
ISSN:2673-6101
2673-6101
DOI:10.3389/falgy.2023.1152927