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Study dogs reduce the risk of asthma
If children have contact with dogs at an early age, it reduces the risk of developing asthma later. This has been confirmed by Swedish researchers in a new study. It has long been known that children who grow up on a livestock farm rarely have asthma.
City children are more likely to suffer from allergies
Previous studies have shown that stable dust protects us from allergies and asthma. City children suffer much more often than those who grow up on a livestock farm. Pets also seem to play an important role. For example, studies in the past have shown that dogs protect children from asthma.
Falling asthma risk by dogs. Picture: pressmaster - fotolia This has now been confirmed by Swedish scientists. In the largest study to date on this topic, the researchers have determined that close contact with dogs in the first year of life reduces the likelihood of developing asthma at the age of six by 13 percent. As the authors of the study report in the journal "JAMA Pediatrics", this result was independent of whether the parents suffered from asthma or not.
Connection between asthma and early contact with dogs
"Our study provided results that are valid for the entire population of Sweden and perhaps applicable to other European countries," said Catarina Almqvist Malmros of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. On the basis of national registration records, the expert together with Tove Fall from the University of Uppsala and other colleagues analyzed data from all children born between 2001 and 2010 in Sweden - around one million. Among other things, the team investigated the relationship between asthma at the age of six and contact with dogs or livestock in the first year after birth.
Reduced risk by four-legged friends
In 4.2 percent of six-year-olds, asthma was diagnosed. The researchers found that the risk of asthma for those in contact with dogs dropped 13 percent compared to those who grew up in dog-free homes. When contacted with farm animals, the difference was even greater at 52 percent, and was in line with previous research. According to the statements, the relationships were independent of whether the parents were affected by asthma and whether the child had older siblings or not. As the authors write, these insights may be helpful to parents who are wondering if and when to buy a dog.
Influence on the immune system
Although the study - like all such epidemiological investigations - only statistically relevant relationships but no causal relationships after. However, it seems reasonable to explain the results on the basis of the widely accepted hygiene hypothesis that contact with environmental germs in early childhood influences the maturation of the immune system. If the little ones are exposed to a particularly wide variety of different types of germs, allergic immune reactions to harmless foreign bodies are less likely to occur later. By living with a dog the range of microbes is extended, which are detectable in house dust. This could reduce the risk of allergies and asthma.
Children with animal hair allergy should avoid dogs
The situation is different in a known animal hair allergy. "We know that children with known cat or dog allergies should avoid it, but our results also show that children who grow up with dogs have a lower risk of asthma later in life," says Catarina Almqvist Malmros. However, US researchers at the Detroit Henry Ford Hospital found out several years ago that pet allergies may also be prevented by early contact with pets. At that time, they reported that cats and dogs can reduce the allergy risk. Their results contradicted common assumptions. (Ad)