Parents of children struggling with eczema or asthma might think that having a dog would only make it harder to control their child's condition. But two new studies suggest man's furry best friend might actually provide some protection against allergic diseases. The first study contends that having a dog in the house before you're even born may help keep eczema at bay at least until your toddler years. The skin disorder is marked by dry, extremely itchy patches. "Eczema is usually the first manifestation of [allergic disease] and eczema can predict the development of other [allergic diseases] as kids grow," said study author Dr. Gagandeep Cheema, an allergy and immunology fellow at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. The researchers analyzed 782 mother-child pairs and collected data on prenatal exposure to dogs, which included days where a dog spent at least one hour inside the home. When the investigators compared kids with prenatal dog exposure to those without, the risk of eczema was reduced in children of dog households by about half at age 2. The effect appeared to diminish by age 10, but Cheema said the researchers are still gathering data and suggested that finding might eventually change. The second study looked at living with dogs and the odds of asthma symptoms linked to substances found on the dog, such as bacteria, or the dog's own allergens. This study included 188 children from Baltimore with the breathing and wheezing disorder. Ninety-two percent were black, and their average age was 10. Researchers from this study found that the non-allergen substances on the dogs appeared to reduce the need for an asthma inhaler and reduced nighttime symptoms of asthma. On the flip side, exposure to allergen-inducing proteins from dogs seemed to up the odds of inhaler use and nighttime symptoms. Read more...
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