Pet Exposure to Reduce Allergies
At Bark City, we love dogs. I don't have enough fingers or toes on my human body to count the ways dogs are awesome. Recently, some new research on a somewhat old presumption is surfacing that gives one more reason to treat dogs like super heroes: Pet exposure may reduce allergies in humans. We all know someone who has an allergy to something or other. Research has been suggesting over the past few decades that allergic diseases are increasing: Asthma has tripled in prevalence since the 1970's and food allergies have doubled (1). Some humans carry the presumption that having a clean, sterile household, free of pet dander will ward off allergies. This may be true for adults (and older children) that already have allergies, but may not necessarily be true for a baby yet to be born or a young infant. It seems that exposure to pets in infancy, especially while in utero through the first three months of life, influences the child's immune development and may decrease the pr...