14 DAY TRIAL // A new study looking at the relationship between pet ownership and eczema concluded that having a dog reduces the risk of developing eczema by age 4, in children with dog allergies.
Nowadays, the number of kids that develop eczema is continuously rising, but the exact causes have not yet been established.
One of the problems linked to eczema is that children who develop this chronic skin condition, have a higher risk of developing asthma and food allergies later in life.
For this new study, Dr Tolly Epstein and colleagues from the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center collected data from 636 children, part of the Cincinnati Childhood Allergy & Air Pollution Study (CCAAPS).
The CCAAPS is a long-term epidemiological study looking at the effects of environmental fine particles on respiratory health and allergy development in children.
The children were tested for 17 separate allergies every year, from 1 to 4 years old, and their parents completed yearly surveys.
They found that children who were allergic to dogs and had a dog as a pet before age 1, had less risk of developing eczema by the age of 4 years.
“Children with dog allergies who did not own dogs were 4 times more likely to develop eczema,” said Dr. Epstein.
After extrapolating, scientists found that in the case of cat allergies the effect was the exact opposite and rather dangerous.
“Children who owned a cat before age 1 year and were allergic to cats based on a skin allergy test were 13 times more likely to develop eczema by age 4 years,” explained Dr Epstein.
Nevertheless, children who were not allergic to cats and owned a cat, were not at a high risk for eczema.
Children enrolled in the study were born to parents with allergies so they were considered at high risk for developing allergies.
The researchers suggest that it would be a good idea for parents of children at risk for eczema, to consider these results when choosing a family pet.
This study will be published in The Journal of Pediatrics.