Having
a furry pet in the house may increase an adolescent's risk of developing
asthma, new research suggests.
Investigators
found that older children and teens with any pet in the home were 60% more
likely than others to develop asthma, and the risk was particularly associated
with dogs.
Kids with humidifiers
in the house were also at increased risk, according to findings published
in the May issue of Epidemiology.
Indoor and outdoor
allergens are well-known triggers of asthma attacks, with environmental
irritants like cigarette smoke, pet dander and mold causing inflammation
in asthmatics' airways.
But studies
looking into common indoor allergens as a primary cause of children's asthma
have yielded conflicting results, according to the authors of the new study.
In addition, most of this work has focused on young children's risk of
developing asthma, and not older kids', note Dr. Rob McConnell, of the
University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and his colleagues.
So the researchers
looked at the role of the indoor environment in asthma development among
more than 3,500 children and teens with no history of the disease. The
participants, all between
the ages of 9 and 16, were
followed for up to 5 years.
During the study,
265 children developed asthma, a majority of whom had no past problems
with wheezing. Among those with no history of wheezing, pets--especially
a dog--appeared to raise the risk of asthma, as did home humidifiers and
having more than four house plants.
The investigators
conclude that about one third of the new cases of asthma among children
without a history of wheeze could be attributed to pets in the home.
The authors
note that some past studies have failed to show pets as a risk factor for
asthma development among young children. A possible explanation, according
to McConnell's team, is that pets have different effects on asthma risk
at different ages.
As for humidifiers,
the researchers note, the risk they found may have to do with higher levels
of dust mites or mold in humid homes.
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