Researchers suggest that kids who are exposed to dogs and farm animals since their first year of life, have a lower risk of asthma. The study in Sweden observed 377,000 preschool age, 276,000 school-age children and their level of exposure to dogs and farm animals.
The researchers found that school-age kids who were exposed to dogs since first year of life were 13 percent less likely to have asthma at age 6 compared with the school-age kids who were not exposed to dogs at all.
Scientists are persuaded that Swedish children who are raised together with dogs are at lower risk of asthma. Author Tove Fall, an associate professor of Uppsala University in Sweden said that the risk is also reduced in children whose parents have asthma.
Children who had been exposed to farm animals since their birth reduced the risk of having asthma by 52 percent at age 6 compared with children who had not been exposed to farm animals at all.
According to the study where preschool- age people participated, those who were exposed to farm animals during the first year were 31 percent less likely to have asthma between age 1 and 5 than kids who were not exposed to farm animals since the beginning.
Researchers analyzed some data from January 2007 till September 2012. They examined diagnosis of asthma from National Patient Register in Sweden and data on prescribed asthma drugs at pharmacies. They also looked if parents were owning dogs during first year of life of their kids and if those worked with farm animals.
Scientists are not sure how to explain correlation between exposure to dogs and reduced risk of asthma.
They claim that third variables may influence the results (exposure to dirt and dust, time spent outdoors and being physically active).
One of the main professor’s Fall hypotheses that may explain the link between early exposure to animals and lowered risk of getting asthma is environments kids are raised in. She thinks that air around kids who grow together with animals contains more bacteria and this can be what actually lowers their risk.
Fall says that parents do not need to buy a puppy if they do not want their kids to have asthma, and getting furred pet will not help children who are allergic to fur.
The new findings are in line with the so-called hygiene hypothesis, which states that person has to be exposed to bacteria early in life in order to shape a healthy immune system.
I would never have guessed that owning a dog could decrease the risk of asthma. I always knew that pets had a therapeutic effect on people, but didn’t realize that they did more than that. You made me curious so I found other ways pets can help us. Not only do they help cure stress, they can also lower blood pressure, improve mood and make you exercise more. I think everyone should own a pet, it seems to be good for your health.
This is an interesting blog post because i would never think that having a dog could decrease your risk to have asthma. I have had a dog since i first came into the world and I developed asthma by the time I was 15. I have it now but it is worse at school than when I am at home, but then again that could just be because of the atmosphere difference, and because it’s a completely different environment. It would be interesting to do a study on this to find the exact correlation between dogs and reduced risk of asthma. I think it is interesting that growing up around dogs will reduce your asthma, but I can see it being true because of what you described above; bacteria. It makes sense that with a dog in the house, you grow up with more bacteria surrounding you at all times which could reduce the risk. Again, i think it would be interesting to see a full study on this to find the correlation. This is a good blog post!