Kids, PETS AND ALLERGIES

GUPTA
Allergies are no fun. Between the sneezing and wheezing and eye scratching and hives, a person can get pretty miserable. Doctors aren’t quite sure why one person develops allergies, while another is spared. They do know that the propensity for allergies can be genetic. Recently, researchers stumbled upon a paradoxical finding that could nip allergies in the bud.

GUPTA
This is Ralphy and this is Alexandra. Two cats that 15-year-old Katie Luck grew up with. Sadly, they’ve passed on, but according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, they may have left awonderful legacy for Katie Ñ life-long protection from allergies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE
Early exposure to dogs and cats not only suppressed the response to dogs and cats, it lowered the likelihood that they were going to be allergic to ragweed or grass or mold.

GUPTA
Cynthia Luck has asthma and allergies, although she’s not allergic to cats or dogs. But luckily, her daughter has remained allergy- free. She gives credit to Ralphy and Alexandra.

CYNTHIA LUCK
They were free to be around her whenever they wanted to be. The only restriction I ever had was in the crib. If they wanted to lay next to her when she was on the floor, I hadn’t had a problem with it.

GUPTA
Here is how the study authors think it works.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE
The animals introduce bacteria, which is a good thing for the immune system. Very early on, the immune system is still developing, and it tends to take a pathway13 that Ñ one pathway is related to allergies and the propensity to become allergic, or not. And we think that exposure to microbacterial products sends a person down the pathway that’s non-allergic.
GUPTA
The process of developing an allergy-free immune system appears to happen in the baby’s first year of life. And the more pets, the better.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE
With multiple animals, that’s a very large effect. It cuts the risk almost in half.

KATHLEEN LUCK
I think it is kind of cool that you can have pets and you might not have allergies.

GUPTA
The researchers say it might even be reasonable to adopt pets specifically to help your baby avoid allergies later in life. Or to put it another way, when you consider how miserable allergies can be, having a few furry friends just might prevent a doggone catastrophe.

孩子，宠物和过敏

古普塔
过敏症可不是好玩的。打喷嚏、哮喘、眼睛刺痛以及麻疹的时候，把人折腾得够呛。医生们还不太清楚为什么某个人会有过敏反应，而其它人却平安无事。但他们知道，过敏症的易感倾向可能与遗传有关。最近，研究者们偶然发现了一项能将过敏症制止于萌芽期的但听起来似乎有些自相矛盾的研究成果。

古普塔
这是拉菲，这是亚历山德拉。这两只猫陪15岁的凯蒂•拉克一起长大。令人难过的是，它们都死了。不过美国医学会期刊上的一项新研究显示，它们可能给凯蒂留下了一份很棒的礼物——终生免受过敏症之苦。

男被访者
孩子们幼年对猫、狗的接触不仅会抑止他们对猫、狗的过敏反应，也会降低他们对豚草、青草或霉菌过敏的可能性。

古普塔
尽管辛西娅•拉克不对猫、狗过敏，但她患有哮喘和过敏症。幸运的是，她的女儿没有过敏症。她相信这应该归功于拉菲和亚历山德里亚。

辛西娅•拉克
无论何时，它们都可以随心所欲地呆在她身边。我唯一的限制是不许它们上婴儿床。如果它们想在地板上与她躺在一起，我从来都不反对。

古普塔
让研究者谈谈这里的玄机。

女被访者
动物带来细菌，这对于免疫系统来说是件好事。人在很小的时候，免疫系统还在发展，它会追随某种——过敏以及易过敏或不过敏与否的易感倾向有关。而我们认为，接触细菌物类质能使人沿着不过敏的方向成长。

古普塔
抗过敏的免疫系统的发展进程似乎在婴儿出生后的第一年就已经开始了，而且宠物越多越好。

男被访者
如果动物种类多，那么效果会很明显，几乎会降低将近一半的风险。

凯瑟琳•拉克
我觉得这很酷——能养宠物而同时又不会过敏。

古普塔
研究人员表示，为了让你的婴儿在日后免受过敏之苦，选择特定的宠物不失为明智之举。换句话说，当你在揣度过敏会有多糟的时候，拥有一些毛茸茸的朋友，只会有助于避免讨厌的麻烦。