Want An Allergy Free Kid? Get A Dog!
A German study of 9000 children over 6 years has found that children have less of a risk of being allergy sensitive if they share their living quarters with - you guessed it - a dog! The study was published in the “European Respiratory Journal” and claims that the benefit of the exposure germs that are carried into the home on a dog are a stronger immune system that is less sensitive to normal childhood triggers - including asthma.
“Our results show clearly that the presence of a dog in the home during infancy is associated with a significantly low level of sensitisation to pollens and inhaled allergens.” said lead researcher, Dr. Joachim Heinrich. The doctor also stressed that it was important that the dog be kept in the home from the beginning of the child’s life in order to have these effects!
Photo by Abstract Lady
Score another point for dogs and the health of children! Here is a recent post about how keeping a dog in the home lowers children’s blood pressure!
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Interesting. Not sure if I buy it or not, but I know a few people with bad allergies who didn’t grow up with dogs.