Parents may be able to reduce the chance of their children developing asthma with a simple approach: get a dog. Two studies presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology showed that when there is a dog in the home during a pregnancy, babies are less likely to develop asthma and eczema.
How Dogs Affect Asthma and Eczema:
The story is a bit more complicated, of course. The investigators studying eczema found that the protective effect faded by the time the kids were ten. However, other researchers have reported that the risk of allergic eczema is strongly reduced in children whose families had pet dogs when they were born (Thorsteinsdottir et al, Allergy, Dec. 2016).
The study on asthma found that children who are allergic to dogs have negative reactions to the proteins dogs produce. This is consistent with previous research (Gergen et al, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. In Practice, online July 7, 2017).
However, other dog-related elements such as bacteria seem to reduce the chance of asthma in exposed children. Early exposure to such microbes increases the diversity of a child’s gut microbiome (Gupta, Nature, March 30, 2017). Presumably, this orients the baby’s immune system to reduce the likelihood of allergic conditions such as asthma and eczema.
ACAAI Annual Meeting, Oct. 26-30, 2017
