EXPOSURE
TO PETS
MAY CURB
CHILD
ALLERGIES,
STUDY SAYS
By
Jonathan
Bor, The
Baltimore
Sun,
August 28,
2002The
truth
about cat
and dog
allergies
might be
the
opposite
of what
experts
have long
suspected,
a new
study
says.
Raising
children
alongside
the furry
companions
might
reduce
rather
than
increase
the
likelihood
that they
will break
out in
itching
and
sneezing
fits.
Not
only that,
but the
study of
474
youngsters
in
suburban
Detroit
found that
those
raised
from birth
in
households
with two
or more
cats or
dogs also
were less
likely to
develop
allergies
to pollen,
mold and
grasses.
The
finding,
to appear
in today's
edition of
the
Journal of
the
American
Medical
Association
(JAMA),
challenges
conventional
wisdom
about pet
allergies,
which
holds that
children
are more
likely to
develop
reactions
the more
they are
exposed to
the
animals.
"For
30 years,
physicians
in general
have been
taught
that early
exposure
to cats
and dogs
is more
likely to
increase
the risk
that a
child will
develop an
allergy to
cats and
dogs,"
said Dr.
Dennis
Ownby, an
allergist
with the
Medical
College of
Georgia,
who
directed
the study.
"What
we found
was just
the
opposite."
The
finding,
although
preliminary,
suggests
an early
dose of
dog or cat
dander
might
somehow
tweak the
immune
system to
keep it
from
mounting
the
exaggerated
response
to
irritants
that can
cause
allergic
symptoms.
Evidence
from this
and other
studies
should
come as a
relief to
pet-loving
parents
who
wondered
whether
they
should
kick their
animals
out before
bringing a
child into
the home,
Ownby
said.
"There
are many
different
factors a
family has
to
consider,"
Ownby
said,
including
a pet's
cost and
the risk
of animal
bites,
"but
I think
pets in
the home
may have a
clear
beneficial
effect in
terms of
reducing
the
allergy
risk."
Spring, 2004:
A new study published by the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious
Disease suggests that babies raised in homes with two or more cats or dogs are
less likely to develop pet and other common allergies later in childhood.
A Note From Four On The
Floor's Founder:
I took up
to five
shots a
week for more than twenty-four
years for
severe
allergies
and
asthma,
spending
lots of
time in
hospital
emergency
rooms,
too, and
can tell
you that
when Julie
and I
began
rescuing
cats &
dogs, my
asthma and
allergies
lessened
by
something
like 95%.
I highly
concur
with the
study's
findings!
We get SO
terribly
tired of
people
asking us
to take
their pets
because
they're
"having
a baby and
the doctor
recommended
that we
get rid of
our cat
(or
dog)."
What a crock. Please spread the word to anyone who brings it up that this
type of advice has been scientifically proven to be nonsense.
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