Pet Dogs Reduce Allergies in Children, But Cats Increase Them

Man's best friend also appears to make us healthy in more ways than one including reducing allergies in children by as much as 4 times according to new research from the University of Cincinnati. On the other hand, cats put children at risk of allergies by 13 TIMES!

The data to obtain these results were obtained from 636 children enrolled in the Cincinnati Childhood Allergy & Air Pollution Study (CCAAPS), a long-term study examining the effects of environmental particulates on childhood respiratory health and allergy development. Notably, all these children are at risk for allergies as their parents have them.

Allergy testing was accomplished by skin prick tests.

Read news article on this here.

Reference:
Genetic and environmental risk factors for childhood eczema development and allergic sensitization in the CCAAPS cohort. J Invest Dermatol. 2010 Feb;130(2):430-7. Epub 2009 Sep 17

Opposing Effects of Cat and Dog Ownership and Allergic Sensitization on Eczema in an Atopic Birth Cohort. J Pediatr. 2010 Sep 29. [Epub ahead of print]

Even in Hawaii, People Have Vitamin D Deficiency!

Ever since I've come across reports that Vitamin D supplementation is helpful to decrease allergy symptoms, I've encountered other interesting factoids including this one...

Even in Hawaii where one would expect it's population to get plenty of sunshine, 51% ended up STILL having low vitamin D levels in a study population consisted of 93 adults (30 women and 63 men) with a mean age of 24!!! Read the study here. (For those not in the know, our bodies make vitamin D only with sun exposure.)

How can that be?

Well, given our ancestors probably were out in the sun a lot in terms of farming and/or hunting... our current culture and population does not come even close to the necessary amount of sunshine exposure to maintain adequate Vitamin D levels. After all, many of us work inside buildings instead of outside. We also are applying a lot of suntan lotion preventing the Vitamin D production within our bodies.

Hmmmmmm... Is it possible that the rampant Vitamin D deficiency present in our society is correlated with the increased numbers of allergies/asthma given allergies are worse with low Vitamin D levels?

Reference:
Low vitamin D status despite abundant sun exposure. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Jun;92(6):2130-5. Epub 2007 Apr 10.

Serum vitamin D levels and severe asthma exacerbations in the Childhood Asthma Management Program study. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2010 Jul;126(1):52-8.e5. Epub 2010 Jun 9.

Vitamin D in atopic dermatitis, asthma and allergic diseases. Immunol Allergy Clin North Am. 2010 Aug;30(3):397-409.