Cats protect babies from asthma

    Cats protect babies from asthma

    Who said cats need to stay away from babies? A new study by Danish scientists has revealed that their presence not only protects little ones from asthma but could also help them fight obesity and diabetes.

    Who said cats need to stay away from babies? A new study by Danish scientists has revealed that their presence not only protects little ones from asthma but could also help them fight obesity and diabetes.





    The study, conducted by the Copenhagen Studies on Asthma in Childhood Research Center (COPSAC), revealed that cats neutralize the effect of a gene that, when activated, doubles the risk of developing asthma in children. Consequently, having a cat in the house along with a newborn baby means that the gene is never activated.

    Bisgaard, Jakob Stokholm and three colleagues from COPSAC and Næstved Hospital studied data from 377 Danish children whose mothers suffered from asthma.

    They mapped the children's genes and gathered information about their upbringing and habits, taking samples from the home they lived in and subjecting the parents to a series of investigations.

    The results showed that cats reset the risk of developing asthma in children with a particular variation of gene 17q21, named TT, responsible for asthma in children.

    Nearly 1 in 3 children in the study had the TT gene variant, regardless of whether the mother had asthma or not. Interestingly, cats alone appeared to reduce the risk of developing asthma in children with the genetic variant. Dogs couldn't get the same effect.

    Not just asthma

    Analyzes suggest that i cats protect against asthma but also from pneumonia and by inflammation in the lower airways of young children such as the bronchitis. The 17q21 gene is known to be involved in all three conditions.

    The result is surprised by co-author Hans Bisgaard, professor of pediatrics and head of COPSAC. Not because the results will lead to new treatments - they won't - but because the study shows that the genes behind a disease can be turned on or off depending on the environment around us.



    “It appears that the effect is linked to a particular gene variant, which demonstrates how complex the development of asthma and allergies is. It's not just about genes and the environment, but how the two interact, there are still so many things we don't know yet, ”said Dr Arne Høst.

    More studies will also be needed to assess what kind of cat exposure is needed in infancy to reduce the risk of childhood asthma.



    READ also:

    • 10 GREAT REASONS TO GROW CHILDREN IN THE COMPANY OF PETS
    • ASTHMA AND CHILDREN: THE FAULT IS SMOG
    • DOGS LOWER THE RISK OF CHILDHOOD ECZEMA AND REDUCE ASTHMA SYMPTOMS

    The study was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

    Francesca Mancuso

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