Wow another Saturday night Medical Degree. Please provide your medical documentation that supports your wild accounts of how this scientific/medical efforts is wrong.

Asthma, allergies, and eczema are all related auto-immune problems that seem to have a genetic risk factor. One such factor are mutations in the gene that codes for fillagrin, a protein involved in maintaining tight connection between cells in the epidermis.

Of course, environmental factors play a role and RSV infection has been shown to increase asthma risk. However, this "scientific/medical effort" really does not prove that having a dog decreases your risk of asthma. All it shows is that it reduces your risk of getting infected with RSV (a common childhood infection btw). In fact, there could easily be other asthma sensitizing agents carried by dogs that would cancel out such a benefit. I would not be convinced that dogs can reduce asthma risk unless they actually studied populations of pet owners and their children vs. none pet owners and their children. This study has no direct evidence to support the headline of this article

BTW: I went to Medical School

Our gut does have a say in immune response. However, all our knowlege on gut biota and probiotic living is extremely new and sketchy and totally not a reason to get a dog.

I don't like this article simply because people might use it as an excuse to get a dog, grow tired of it and abandon it.

I agree Journal. Allergies is an inherited trait. I don't understand how having a dog can suppress that trait. And can the researchers get a little more specific? I mean, how many breeds of dogs are there?

So if allergies are inherited why is it that my father does not have them and my mother does not have them, their parents do not have them, there grandparents do not have them ... but I have allergies? Now I know what you are going to say, "must be there somewhere in the line". And I am sure that we could find a hint of them somewhere along the genetic line but really if it was that prominent of an item would be seen continuous. Further more why then do boys tend to grow out of allergies and girl tend to remain stuck in them?

I figured I would ask these scientific/medical questions to you Journal Journal and Swooshz because you seem to be answering the most indepth of medical questions.

dmd, I can't say why you have allergies as i'm not an immunologist. However, you cannot deny the fact that allergies are an inherited trait. Saying that the allergy trait isn't inherited is like saying not brushing your teeth won't have an affect on carries.

Further, I haven't been made aware that boys outgrow allergies more than girls. I've never been told that nor run across that info. Not to say it isn't true. I am aware, however, that while some children outgrow allergies, others gain allergies as they get older. Also, the IgE mediated allergic response may not appear after the first exposure to a substance nor will it appear in the same form with subsequent exposures.

For instance, a child who is allergic to peanuts may have a sniffle the first time they are exposed to it, a cough the second time, and a full out anaphylactic shock the third time.

No, I'm not a doctor. But I am a parent of a child with a rare auto-immune disorder, Eosinophilic Esophagitis, and have very frequent visits with world-renowned immunologists and GI doctors and researchers at National Jewish and Children's Hospital here in Denver. Believe me, I wish I didn't know as much about the auto-immune system as I do. I'd much rather be the person reading this article saying, "Wow, that's a cool article".

There is a difference between dog ownership playing a role in preventing asthma (as the study states), and dog ownership curing or preventing asthma in all cases (as you suggest you have disproved by having a dog and a child with asthma).

I agree thrinw80. However, we've seen these studies before, usually followed up by another study that disproves the theory. I say, if you can love and properly care for a dog, by all means get one. But don't get one thinking that it may prevent asthma and allergies.

You definitely may have been allergic to dogs (and your parents loved you much!). But you also could've been allergic to something else in your environment or diet. It's very common for children to outgrow certain allergies as they get older. Looks like you were one of the lucky ones!

rtg- you're definitely right that it's been common knowledge, but it's been more of a theory or wive's tale. Unfortunately, in my experience, it's always been false. I grew up with cats, but I have horrible seasonal allergies and a few drug allergies. My oldest grew up with cats (until when the cat died last year) and a dog, and he has bad seasonal allergies and drug allergies. Then the 2 youngest (my 5 and 2 year olds)I've explained above.

What I've learned from the allergists is that having an allergy is an inherited trait. It doesn't always manifest itself in the same way. For instance, my IgE could cause me to be allergic to penicillin but could cause my son to be allergic to soy or have asthma. I'd be interested if a study could demonstrate that being exposed to animals could suppress all IgE allergic responses or just asthma and seasonal allergies. And whether or not children who don't "develop" asthma instead have another sort of auto-immune response.

It's common knowledge because it's been passed around a lot. However, it's not accurate.

I grew up with a veritable farm of pets. It didn't help me with my allergies and auto immune problems which got progressively worse until I discovered several key dietary deficiencies. After hefty introvenous and oral doses of vitamins, I'm back to not-being-in-the-hospital. Exercise helps my asthma more than any drug ever did. But I still sneeze when I'm outside.

Immune response is something that involves multiple body systems, environment and heredity. It takes a host of things, such as diet, exercise, hormonal balance, and genetic health to "build up immunity". It is a huge oversimplification (and a disservice to pets) to say that heading to the pet store and getting a dog or a cat, is somehow a way to keep your kid from having asthma/allergies. At worst, by then your child will already have allergies and have a life threatening reaction.

journal, do you remember that study years back that said that kids that grew up on farms are less likely to develop asthma (because of exposure to animals). Obviously the researchers got it wrong again!

I agree, the changes you've made to your lifestyle are key. Drugs (and dogs) could never have the same impact without those changes. I'm glad that you've been able to find a way to manage your auto immune issues. Hopefully we'll be able to find that balance soon with my 5 year old!

Having a pet "may" help build immunity to some allergies, but hay fever and seasonal allergies are plant based so would have absolutely nothing to do with having pets, just like food allergies. I have seasonal allergies caused by pollen, and I seriously doubt have pets would do much for that, but I have 3 children and 4 grandchildren, all raised in houses with pets, and none have any pet allergies. I didn't get pets to help keep my kids from allergies, we've just always had pets and hopefully, always will. If I developed an allergic reaction to my dogs or cat right now, I'd go on meds for it, wouldn't give them up.

Yes I do remember. :) The myth that people have allergies and asthma because they're "too clean" is also still floating around. Bugs are everywhere, in the air, on the food we eat. It's impossible to "disinfect" the world.

NPR reported that scientists predict that in our bodies, we have 3 lbs worth of microscopic beings representing 1,000 different species. Each "human habitat" is different and can effect everything from our immunity to our mood. It represents our lives including the pets we've owned, where we lived, the places we've traveled and who our parents were. This takes years to develop regardless of how much time you spent outside.

But... that's as far as we know. And we never know everything. So I encourage the research but not the wonky headlines of half finished experiments that lead to these wrong conclusions.

rtg- It's definitely possible that having a pet "may" help with immunity. Of course, it may not. But current promising research is supporting a hypothesis that small exposure to an allergen over time can help the body build up a positive immunity to it. They are currently testing this with children, exposing them to bigger and bigger bites of certain foods in a hospital setting over a period of months to see if they can "retrain" the immune system to not see the food protein as the "bad guy". They've had some favorable results. Of course, not every kid had a happy ending.

Remember though, allergies are often an IgE mediated response. You may have the allergy trait, but it doesn't determine exactly what you are allergic to. I'm glad you'd keep your pets! Claritan can work wonders! hah-hah.

We use to have 3 large dogs and 3 cats too, but unfortunately in the last year we lost one dog to old age and kidney disease and just last month, our 7-year old golden/collie mix to lymphoma. Our remaining dog was grieving so badly that he wouldn't eat, so we now have a 10 week old newfie/golden puppy, which restored his zest for lie and his appetite. Might not get asthma, but all this puppy poo and pee must be as dangerous as it is nasty to clean up, so perhaps I'm allergic to puppy poo.