Autoimmune diseases have become the third biggest category of disease in the U.S. after cancer and heart disease, and some say that the prevalence is still rising. Now the CDC tells us we've got another gem to add to the mix: "progressive inflammatory neuropathy." It's a fancy if vague name for a collection of symptoms ranging from mild weakness to total short-term paralysis, and it's thought to be caused by the inhalation of pig brain. Yep, you read that right.
Luckily, no one seems to snort pig brains recreationally; the people who are at risk are pig slaughterhouse workers, specifically those who regularly hang around pig head processing stations. During processing, the pigs' brains are removed using compressed air, which aerosolizes brain molecules; nearby workers then breathe some in. Though the brain molecules aren't necessarily dangerous in and of themselves, our bodies recognize them as foreign and attack them. That's all well and good—that's the why our immune system exists. The problem, however, is that these molecules are so similar to our own tissues that our body also begins attacking itself. This self-attacking-self problem is what defines autoimmunity.
While you or I might not be at risk for developing PIN—and luckily, all American slaughterhouses have just stopped using compressed air to extract pig brains, so slaughterhouse employees should no longer be at risk, either—the emergence of Yet Another Autoimmune Disease is still frightening. Pig slaughterhouse workers have been processing brains this way for decades, as the Washington Post points out—so why are these cases only popping up now? Could there be something in our environment putting us at a heightened risk of developing autoimmune diseases today?
Some scientists argue that our cleanliness—our lack of exposure to certain microorganisms and microbial factors during childhood—puts us at a greater risk of developing allergies and autoimmune disorders. While this idea (often referred to as the "hygiene hypothesis") is highly controversial, it's potentially a good place to start when it comes to researching what's at play here. Until we know for sure what's going on, the list of autoimmune diseases and autoimmune sufferers may keep growing, and we might continue to identify unwanted effects from activities we had thought were harmless. As if the list of What We Shouldn't Do For The Sake of Our Health isn't long enough already.
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