Living with pets may protect infants from allergies

[DainBramaged]

Children who live with dogs and cats are less likely to develop allergies to those animals later in life, but only if the pet is under the same roof while the child is still an infant, a new study suggests.

Compared to babies born into cat-free homes, those who grew up with cats were roughly half as likely to be allergic to them as teenagers, the study found.

Growing up around a dog reduced the risk of dog allergies by about the same amount for boys, but not for girls -- a finding that mystified researchers.

Being exposed to pets anytime after the first year of life appeared to have no effect on allergy risk, however, which indicates that timing may be everything when it comes to preventing allergies





http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/06/13/pets.infants.allergies/index.html

[applegrove]

1. Yup. Babies, toddlers and kids need to eat dirt to make their immunity systems

mature.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

2. One data point from me.

We had a cocker spaniel when I was a baby.
Later we had a cat, a parakeet, turtles, ducks, white rats, fish and two boa constrictors. My sister was into pets.
We also later had a large collie dog who produced a lot of hair. The house was not sealed, we had no central air, just inadequate window unit. There was lots of dust, dog hair, and crud blowing through the house.

I spent my childhood blowing my nose.

And I still have tons of allergies and autoimmune problems.

[DainBramaged]

5. My home was pet free and my allergies developed AFTER I hit puberty before I had pets

of my own. And to this day most are so severe I spend an hour each morning clearing my sinuses. But I wouldn't give up my babies for the world.

[HopeHoops]

3. Hell, that was a common theory more than 20 years ago when we conceived our first child.

On Edit:
I don't think I will ever have a pet free home. It just isn't right. We didn't have a dog for about two years and it felt like the doors were wide open all night for anyone to just wander in and burglarize the place. We had cats at the time, but how often do you hear about a guard cat?

[xchrom]

4. love that picture! nt