Some parents are wary of keeping pets in the house for fear of a health hazard but a new study has suggested that having pets may actually reduce the risk of an allergy and asthma. The studies out have found that children exposed to a cat or dog early in life are likely to be more immune to probable allergy triggers.
According to the report published in the September issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, data from almost 9812 adults was examined over a period of 9 years. The participants were asked a series of questions that included information on the nature of their childhood allergies, symptoms and also the level of their exposure to pets.
The researchers found that parents were more likely to get rid of pets if very young children or babies developed allergies. However if the parent had an allergy this did not hold true. Another interesting finding was that childhood symptoms of asthma alone did not deter adults from getting a pet. On the whole however the study reported that one was more likely to keep the pet if they had one before developing the respiratory problem. Their loyalties seemed to naturally lie with the pet.More significantly, the study also found that people with pets had a lower allergy risk than their pet free peers. Another test also found that children who had been exposed to pets had half the number of positive skin tests to all the allergens compared to those who had not.
But 'pet avoidance' seemed to be only one of the reasons. "Although selective avoidance is certainly present, it appears to account for only a part of the protective effects of pets presented in the literature," the study said.
The researchers also hastened to add that rushing out and buying a furry friend to increase immunity to allergies may not be such a good idea, especially if one was asthmatic and had never had a pet before, or was already sensitive to pet danger. The report however brought cheer from various quarters; a spokeswoman for the Cats Protection League said: "These findings are good news for cats who are all too often seen as the cause of allergic reactions in children rather than a risk reduction factor."
