Friendly Fido Study: Dog May Help Lower Allergy Risk Feb. 9— Kids who spend their first year of life around dogs may have a lower risk of developing allergies, researchers have found. Having a cat, however, appears to have no effect on allergy risk

For Several other studies supporting these findings since 1990 click HERE

Study author Dr. James E. Gern warned that the study did not measure whether dog-loving infants had an actual lower rate of allergies, just whether they had fewer signs indicating their risk of allergies.

Furthermore, Gern added, the results are too preliminary to warrant recommending that dogs become members of every household. However, if further studies demonstrate that pooches can pump up the immune system, researchers may one day be able to devise a way to mimic that protective situation, and ward off allergies in many more kids, he noted.

"Understanding what factors — like pets — in the environment contribute to healthy immune development will hopefully point the way to new types of preventive treatments for allergic diseases," Gern, based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Reuters Health.

The reasons why some children develop allergies and others don't are often a mystery. Numerous studies have investigated whether having pets at home plays a role — often, with mixed results.

For instance, although many reports have shown an anti-asthma effect for early cat exposure, others have actually tied such exposure to an increased risk of asthma.

During the latest study, reported in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Gern and his colleagues performed physical exams of children from 285 families during their first year of life. In all families, either the mother or father had allergies or asthma.

One hundred and one children were raised with a dog in the house, and 84 infants spent much of their first year of life around a cat.

Gern explained that he and his colleagues found that children who lived with dogs tended to have less eczema, a skin rash that often precedes asthma and allergies.

Moreover, dog owners were less likely to develop a protein involved in allergies, and tended to show higher levels of substances that may help the body resist allergic reactions.

Gern explained that dogs may help curb allergies better than cats because dogs tend to be dirtier, and exposure to dirt early in life may help kick start the immune system into fighting allergies.

"Along this line of thinking, dogs are larger, and are more likely to lick you in the face compared to cats," he added.

SOURCE: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, February 2004.


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