Allergies

[dewoman81]

I have heard this statistic over and over... if you have a dog, cat, animal etc, then your child is less likely to have allergies. DF's family is using this to get me to keep his dog. I cant wrap my mind around this because I dont know the actual study, but here is my logic:

I am an allergy sufferer so I would not like to have pets. My child may or may not have allergies (probably will due to family history) but wont be exposed to pets because I cannot have them. I dont think the pets make a difference in the equation.

A parent without allergies is more likely to have a pet AND a child without allergies. This to me would explain the logic of the statistic. Anyone else have insight or more information about this so called study?

[Sashahomeschoolmama]

It's the hygiene hypothesis. The idea is similar to that behind vaccines--your body is exposed to a little bit of allergen, enough for your body to build immunity to it. I'm not sure that it's an actual study or mostly anecdotal.

Anecdotally, I've had lifelong allergies and asthma. I've been on life support twice for uncontrollable attacks. Since moving onto a farm (and being exposed a million times a day to livestock, hay, straw, all kind of pollen, as well as having two dogs and several cats) my asthma and allergies have been better than ever before.

[JudyJudyJudy]

On the other hand, I grew up on a farm, and I have awful allergies, and I also have breathing problems (never have gotten an official asthma diagnosis). We had dogs and cats in the house when Jacob was a baby and toddler, and he has asthma and allergies. Of course, I still blame vaccines, though bad genes don't help, either.

[dewoman81]

I lived in the country, with cats and surrounded by farms. I have horrible allergies and exposure did not help. Thanks for the insight.

[Sashahomeschoolmama]

I should also add, to be fair, that I still have asthma, it's still barely controlled, and I still have allergies. They are better than before but I credit a lot of that to a healthier lifestyle as well.