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This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute.

In 2005 two scientists won a Nobel Prize for discovering that a bacterium¹ called Helicobacter pylori causes most stomach ulcers². One of them even chugged a glassful of the bugs⁴ to prove the point. But before you wash your mouth out with antibiotics⁵, consider this: a new study from New York University suggests that Helicobacter might also protect you from asthma⁶. The scientists analyzed⁷ data from more than 7,000 participants in a national health and nutrition survey. They found that children between the ages of three and 13 are less than half as likely to have asthma if they carry H. pylori. They also had half the incidence of hay fever and other allergies⁸. The results appear online in the July 15th issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases. A hundred years ago, nearly everyone was infected with H. pylori. But the use of antibiotics has beaten back the bug³. At the same time, asthma has been on the rise. It could be that encountering Helicobacter as a kid teaches the immune system how to react, and not overreact as in asthma to future allergens. Still, you might hold off on ordering that Helicobacter cocktail⁹ until more research is done.

Thanks for the minute, for Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I am Karen Hopkin