There has been a long running debate about childhood allergies and asthma risk and having a pet in the home. On one side is the arguement that having pets in the home increases the risk for allergies because of high exposure to dander, etc. The other side of the arguement poses that having pets when young tames the immune system from reacting to dander and those individuals have less allergies and asthma as adults.
It can seem like an easy arguement to solve, but it is not. Because if one looks at the statistics for adults we see that adult allergy suffers are less likely to have a pet, if already allergic. And if those without allergies are more likely to have a pet.
But researchers in Norway wanted to look at the situation closer to see the true relationship. They analyzed information from 9,812 adults. They inquired about allergies and asthma during both childhood and adulthood and then coorelated that information with having a household pet in childhood and/or adulthood. They published their results in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology October issue.
They found that pet owners had about a 30 percent less risk of having allergies than those who did not own pets. This finding was similar to previous studies. However, this effect was not due to pet avoidance by allergy sufferers because adults with allergies were not less likely to have pets than those without allergies. In fact, adults who developed allergies later in life were more likely to use more medication than get rid of their pet.
So, this study supports the arguement that children exposed to pets at a young age may have less allergies (to pets) as adults. The authors stress that buying a pet will not solve the allergy problem, and if the allergy already exists it could make it worse. But parents should not fear that their new baby or young child will get an allergy from being exposed, instead they should believe it may offer some protection.
Posted by Dr. Christina Gutierrez on October 30, 2006 01:32 PM
