Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
hygiene hypothesis, over sanitizing the world the first couple years of life
English answer:
Yes: climate change/global warming and over-sanitisation are two separate alleged causes
Added to glossary by
Charles Davis
Apr 7, 2014 12:00
10 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term
21 books translated
Native in: Russian 
Works in: English to Russian, Russian to English, Spanish to Russian, and 1 more.
hygiene hypothesis, over sanitizing the world the first couple years of life
English
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
Hello everyone,
PRESENTER: So it does seem like everyone's getting more and more allergies are you seeing this in your practice?
DOCTOR: Absolutely, there's an explosion of allergy cases not only here in the United States but throughout the world, children, adults, parents, ***what we're seeing as a result of climate change, global warming something called hygiene hypothesis, over sanitizing the world the first couple years of life***. The immune system doesn't know what to do, we're seeing more and more allergies...
Well, I understand the meaning of every single word and phrase in the sentence, but there is one part the meaning of which is unclear to me:
... what we're seeing as a result of climate change, global warming something called hygiene hypothesis, over sanitizing the world the first couple years of life.
Does it mean that the explosion of allergy cases is the result of 2 things:
1. climate change caused by global warning
2 hygiene hypothesis (as I understand the phrase "over sanitizing the world the first couple years of life" refers to hygiene hypothesis)?
Thank you.
PRESENTER: So it does seem like everyone's getting more and more allergies are you seeing this in your practice?
DOCTOR: Absolutely, there's an explosion of allergy cases not only here in the United States but throughout the world, children, adults, parents, ***what we're seeing as a result of climate change, global warming something called hygiene hypothesis, over sanitizing the world the first couple years of life***. The immune system doesn't know what to do, we're seeing more and more allergies...
Well, I understand the meaning of every single word and phrase in the sentence, but there is one part the meaning of which is unclear to me:
... what we're seeing as a result of climate change, global warming something called hygiene hypothesis, over sanitizing the world the first couple years of life.
Does it mean that the explosion of allergy cases is the result of 2 things:
1. climate change caused by global warning
2 hygiene hypothesis (as I understand the phrase "over sanitizing the world the first couple years of life" refers to hygiene hypothesis)?
Thank you.
Change log
Apr 7, 2014 12:13: Jessica Noyes changed "Term asked" from "the meaning of a part of the sentence" to "hygiene hypothesis, over sanitizing the world the first couple years of life"
Apr 8, 2014 21:21: Charles Davis Created KOG entry
Responses
+7
12 mins
English term (edited):
the meaning of a part of the sentence
Selected
Yes: climate change/global warming and over-sanitisation are two separate alleged causes
Of course the syntax is very informal and strictly incoherent as it stands, which is not unusual in directly transcribed speech. But I'm sure that climate change/global warming and the "hygiene hypothesis" are being put forward here as two separate factors contributing to the observed increase in allergies. There is no obvious relationship between the two. Global warming allegedly aggravates respiratory allergies because is causes an increase in pollen production:
http://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Threats-to-Wildlife/Global-Warmi...
The "hygiene hypothesis" (of which, as you say, "over-sanitizing the world" is an added explanation) is a matter of modern lifestyle and is not affected one way or the other by climate change. The idea is that excessive hygiene means that infants' immune systems are not exposed to sufficient contaminants to develop properly, and that this leads to allergies later as a result of malfunctions of the immune system.
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Note added at 15 mins (2014-04-07 12:16:10 GMT)
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So the doctor is giving a list of factors that are contributing to the increase in allergies. The first two, climate change and global warming, are really just one. But then there should be another comma before "something called [the] hygiene hypothesis": it's a further, separate factor. The omission of that necessary comma is not the doctor's fault; it's the fault of whoever transcribed what he said.
http://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Threats-to-Wildlife/Global-Warmi...
The "hygiene hypothesis" (of which, as you say, "over-sanitizing the world" is an added explanation) is a matter of modern lifestyle and is not affected one way or the other by climate change. The idea is that excessive hygiene means that infants' immune systems are not exposed to sufficient contaminants to develop properly, and that this leads to allergies later as a result of malfunctions of the immune system.
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Note added at 15 mins (2014-04-07 12:16:10 GMT)
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So the doctor is giving a list of factors that are contributing to the increase in allergies. The first two, climate change and global warming, are really just one. But then there should be another comma before "something called [the] hygiene hypothesis": it's a further, separate factor. The omission of that necessary comma is not the doctor's fault; it's the fault of whoever transcribed what he said.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Many thanks to everyone.
Thank you, Charles."
-2
10 mins
English term (edited):
the meaning of a part of the sentence
hygiene hypothesis caused by climate change and global warming.
I don't think that climate change is caused by global warming in this context instead hygiene hypothesis is caused by both climate change and global warming.
I assume that hygiene hypothesis refers to "over sanitizing the world the first couple years of life"
I assume that hygiene hypothesis refers to "over sanitizing the world the first couple years of life"
Peer comment(s):
| disagree |
Tony M
: This 'hygiene hypothesis' is not being caused by 'global warming'!
20 mins
|
| disagree |
Carol Gullidge
: with Tony. Although over cleanliness during the early years is supposed to cause allergies, (the 'hypothesis'), this has noting at all to do with global warming or climate change
3 hrs
|
+1
15 mins
English term (edited):
the meaning of a part of the sentence
Yes ...
Insofar as it is possible to untangle this rather garbled sentence at all, I think you are right - the two general areas (climate change / global warming and the hygiene hypothesis / over-sanitizing) are being seen as the causes of allergies.
I don't see how there can be any connection between climate change and the hygiene hypothesis - the hygiene hypothesis is about parents over-protecting their children from germs, so that the children grow up lacking immunity: this is about hygiene in the general environment, especially the home, and not linked to climate change.
I don't see how there can be any connection between climate change and the hygiene hypothesis - the hygiene hypothesis is about parents over-protecting their children from germs, so that the children grow up lacking immunity: this is about hygiene in the general environment, especially the home, and not linked to climate change.
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