![]() But this varies: the children who grew up with indoor dogs only had more infections than those whose dogs went out every day, suggesting that when animals are allowed to bring in more dirt and microbes from outdoors, it helps strengthen babies’ immune systems faster. The study found that children with pets were healthier overall. Overall, babies who lived with a dog were 31% more likely to be healthy in their first year than babies without a dog kids from homes with cats were 6% more likely to be healthy than those in cat-free families. The researchers followed 397 children, born in Finland between 2002 -5, and found that babies who grew up in homes with pets were 44% less likely to develop an ear infection and 29% less likely to receive antibiotics, compared with pet-free babies. Their study found that living with household dust from homes with a dog, prevented infection with a common respiratory virus that is thought to increase the risk of childhood asthma. Researchers at Kuopio University Hospital in Finland, writing in the journal Pediatrics, say that babies who grow up in homes with a dog or a cat - have a lower risk of allergies than children who live pet-free. “Our observations imply that exposure to a broad variety of indoor allergens, bacteria early in life may reduce the risk of developing asthma,” says URECA principal investigator. The microbes that pets carry into the home from outdoors, could mature baby’s developing immune system and train it to fend off assaults from allergens. The children who didn’t have it had, strangely enough, higher levels of cockroach, mouse, and cat/dog bacteria in the dust samples, collected from the children’s homes, during the first 3 years of life starting at 3 months. Of the 442 children, 130 (29%) had asthma at age 7. Their findings were published in 2017, in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Since 2005, URECA has tracked newborns who are at high risk for developing asthma, because at least one parent has asthma or allergies, for 7 years. However, the Urban Environment and Childhood Asthma (URECA) study, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), points in the opposite direction: that exposure to certain allergens and bacteria early in life, before asthma develops, may protect children from asthma. Conventional wisdom says that reducing allergenic substances at home will help lessen asthma symptoms. It causes recurring bouts of wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and coughing. ![]() Asthma is a chronic lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways. Even in a country where nutrition levels are higher, like the USA, 8-10% of children have asthma, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of the nine studies analysed in 2011, six detected lower levels of IgE antibodies and 15 to 21 per cent less eczema in children who had been exposed to cats or dogs as soon they were born.Īllergies have been on the rise since the 20th century. Their children wear socks throughout the year, have no idea what a plant is, apart from the cut flowers they see in vases at home.įor decades paediatricians warned mothers that if they wanted their children allergy-free they should keep animals out of the house.īy the early 2000s, a number of studies showed the opposite – that exposure to pets in the very early stages of life confers protective benefits and prevents the development of allergic rhinitis, asthma and eczema. I meet so many mothers who won’t let their children walk barefoot in the house or the park, won’t let them touch snails, won’t let them grasp mud or go out in the hot rain of the monsoon, won’t let them near any animals and refuse to keep a pet because it might bring in bacteria.
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