Infants Wheeze Less In Homes With Multiple Dogs

Science Daily ^ | 12-4-2006

[TeenagedConservative]

I wonder whose idea this study was.

[kalee]

ping

[Hildy]

I wonder whose idea this study was.

OURS!

[TASMANIANRED]

Dogs are good for you in more ways than one.

[Right Wing Assault]

Dog licks butt. Dog licks kid's face. Good for both!

[Cicero]

Well, we have multiple dogs, often six in the house. And we have multiple kids & grandkids. It's gratifying to think we are benefitting their good health as well as everyone's entertainment.

[freekitty]

Then kids in my home would be extra allergy free.

[Sender]

Any kids in my house will be thoroughly protected.

[VOA]

I wonder whose idea this study was.

For all I know, this study may be legit.
Our Polio epidemic is generally acknowledged to have been a
"disease of cleanliness"; people got it because their immune systems
hadn't been challenged due to new advances in public sanitation.

And some have posited that the post-Columbian diseases of New
World Indians was partly due to less immunity because they
hadn't had the immune challenges that Europeans had with all
their barnyard animals. (I think writer/doctor Jared Diamond mentions this).

Myself, I can't help but wonder if John Stossel's take on THE factor
in American healthcare isn't operative here.
People with financial resources are generally healthier; poor people
have poorer health.

Maybe people that can afford multiple dogs and children are
financially able to get better health care and nutrition.
Maybe even more travel to distant locations/people that provide
more protective immune responses.
I'd also like to see the "Freakonomics" guy take on this study too.

[festus]

Yes thats what I was thinking too. Along with kid eating/drinking from dogs dish. If you have dogs it will happen at least once with each child guarenteed.

I guess the upshot is kids that aren't raised in clinically sterile environments do better in the real world ?

[ChocChipCookie]

My son would drink from the dogs' dish, eat their (dry) IAMS food, and crawl in and out of the doggie door. For a while there I wasn't sure exactly which species he was.

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

Actually, pugs cannot lick their own butts. Therefor we have a pug. :o)

[manic4organic]

Those kids have never been around my pug when she farts. I wheeze and gag.

[org.whodat]

Go to this rag and put guns in their search block and review their work. Then post how creditable they are. Just a bunch of crack pot liberals in my view.

[republican4ever]

Guess what? I think you're 100% right! I think we Americans are way too obsessed with "germ-free" everything and "bacteria-killing" products. How the heck are we supposed to develop healthy immune systems?
I betcha that if I dare go visit Guatemala (where I came from) I will get a severe case of the runs if I dare drink the water or eat something right there on the street... neither of those was an issue nine years ago, when I lived there!
On the other hand... I would not change living in this God-blessed country for anything in the world!

[VOA]

I guess the upshot is kids that aren't raised in clinically sterile
environments do better in the real world ?

While I suspect MDs are loath to say that aloud for fear of
some folks that would see it as a green-light to ditch clean living...
I think that's generally true.

I'm not an MD, but the general feel I get is that there's a two
double-edged sword here.
It's good to get immune challenges from the environment
(including Fido)...at the same time you have to endure the possibility
of something nasty jumping from your pet (or duck/pig) and you
get a virus/bacteria that can be dangerous/lethal.

[madison10]

Anyone want to borrow one of my four canines? Guilt free pet ownership is a good thing. ;) Never tried the idea on our kids...we didn't have any.

[republican4ever]

By the way.. my kids grew up with dogs around them since they were born (I had an Irish Setter who would "hide" in my oldest's son crib -kid in crib, too- whenever there was a blackout or loud noise). Those kids never get sick... a cold here and there and that's it. They are now all healthy adults.

[Right Wing Assault]

crack pot liberals

Do liberals approve of dogs?