How to Prevent Asthma in Kids; Can a Pet Dog Help?

There are several advantages that come with living with a pet dog. According to various studies, dog owners are more physically fit and healthy, more sociable, less prone to stress and depression and live longer. New research found that having a canine companion will also lower the risk for asthma.

A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics observed nine different sets of data that covered over 1 million children, born in Sweden from January 2001 to December 2010. The findings showed that children who had pet dogs during their first year of life were 15 percent lower asthma rate compared to those who did not grow up with a house dog. The results were also consistent among children who had parents with asthma.

“If we look at this history, we’ve been living with dogs for a very long time. It’s the first pets we had.” said Tove Fall, assistant professor of epidemiology at Uppsala University in Sweden and a study coordinator, based on a report by Newsweek.

The study authors referred to the phenomenon as the “farming effect,” since other researchers also discovered that children who grow up on farms are also less prone to developing asthma. Based on 39 studies on asthma and farming, children who were exposed to farm animals early in life were 25 percent less like to develop asthma, compared to children who did not grow up on a farm.

In the case of house dogs, a child’s microbiome may be affected by their presence. A microbiome is the complex bacterial environment of the gut that is set by several factors, such as a person’s surroundings and food consumption.

Fall speculated that there might be a specific bacteria strain that children are exposed to when in contact with dogs that make them less susceptible to asthma. Children with house dogs may also spend more time outdoors and exercise more frequently, which also help lower the risk for childhood asthma. However, more studies are needed to confirm that having a dog will effectively prevent asthma. More studies are needed to show how particular pet traits may provide additional protection.

Based on the hygiene hypothesis, lack of exposure to parasites and microbes may keep the immune system from developing properly. Natural checks on undesirable immune reactions that causes allergies may be absent. It is a known fact that children with established allergy to dogs or cats must avoid the animals, but those who grow up with dogs have lowered risks for the chronic respiratory condition later in life.