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A newborn’s immune system needs time to figure out what should be fought and what should be left alone. Conventional wisdom had it that early exposure to potential troublemakers, from peanuts to pets, could lead to allergy issues later.
But recent research shows that having a dog or cat at home isn't likely to make children allergic to animals. And a new study finds that kids who grow up with pets are less likely to have an animal allergy all the way through age 18. The works is in the journal Clinical & Experimental Allergy. [Bill Hesselmar et al., "Does early exposure to cat or dog protect against later allergy development?"]
The key to this enhanced immunity was having a mostly indoor dog or cat before a baby's first birthday. Infants with cats at home had half the normal risk of a cat allergy when teenagers. And boys with a dog during their first year had half the risk of later allergies to dogs.
Researchers are still debating why early pet exposure helps keep allergies at bay. Some think that all the extra dust, dander and bacteria train a baby’s immune system, stopping it from reacting unnecessarily.
Now, getting your toddler to stop pulling the cat's tail, that's another question.
—Katherine Harmon
[The above text is an exact transcript of this podcast.]
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Add CommentIn the *Abstract* we can read this *Conclusion*:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this*Pet exposure during the first year of life and increasing number of siblings were both associated with a lower prevalence of allergic rhinitis and asthma in school children.*
This is interesting and makes sense when we look at our evolutionary history. People have had dogs and other beasts (or their skins) in close proximity to them for much of the last 40,000 years. It's only recently, relatively speaking, that we've put nature at such a distance from ourselves. Our immune systems evolved in that "other" environment, not this one.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDon't get me wrong -- I'm all for owning pets BUT this study does not appear to have adequately considered the issue that non-allergic parents are more likely to own pets than parents battling their own allergies. If mom and dad can't be near pets, then we must wonder if their child's allergies were a function of lack of exposure or inheritance of a sensitivity. The authors do say "The results were similar when those children were excluded, whose parents had actively decided against pet keeping during infancy because of allergy in the family." but this analysis falls FAR short of providing enough of a control to argue the data provide evidence of a causal connection!
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