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Showing posts with label cat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cat. Show all posts
Friday, 30 September 2011
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Kids Exposed to Fido or Fluffy in the First Year of Life Decreases Risk of Becoming Allergic to Them
In a recent study (published online June 2011), the researchers found that among males, those with an indoor dog during the first year of life had half the risk of becoming allergic to dogs at age 18 compared with those who did not have an indoor dog in the first year of life regardless whether born by C-section or vaginally. Also, teens with an indoor cat in the first year of life also had a decreased risk of becoming allergic to cats. Neither cumulative exposure nor exposure at any other particular age was associated with either outcome. So it appears that the FIRST year of life is key to whether a child develops pet allergies or not.
Although in this study, cat and dog ownership appears to be beneficial in kids, prior studies have suggested that for at least cats, it increases risk of overall allergies in children by 13 times! Dog exposure, however, reduces overall allergy by 4 times.
Reference:
Lifetime dog and cat exposure and dog- and cat-specific sensitization at age 18 years. Clinical & Experimental Allergy Volume 41, Issue 7, pages 979–986, July 2011
Genetic and environmental risk factors for childhood eczema development and allergic sensitization in the CCAAPS cohort. J Invest Dermatol. 2010 Feb;130(2):430-7. Epub 2009 Sep 17
Opposing Effects of Cat and Dog Ownership and Allergic Sensitization on Eczema in an Atopic Birth Cohort. J Pediatr. 2011 Feb;158(2):265-71.e1-5.
Friday, 1 April 2011
The story did report that pricey pets that claim to be easy on allergy sufferers are probably more hype than true, but than did go on to list dogs and cats that are purportedly hypoallergenic.
The claim for hypoallergenicity is based on hair/fur/dander length or quantity... mainly the shorter or smaller the amount, the less allergenic. However, there are other reasons why hypoallergenic pets are NOT hypoallergenic. These include a pet's saliva and skin which contain the same protein that trigger allergic reactions.
Also, many dog allergy sufferers also have weed, tree, and grass allergies. If your hypoallergenic dog likes to roll in the grass and weed, they are getting that all over them and bringing it into the house and to you. So even if you are not allergic to the dog, you probably are allergic to what's on the dog.
Read the CBS story here.
To understand the significance of this development, one needs to understand how traditional allergy shots are made. Currently, allergy companies purify a protein called Fel d1 from cats and make a vial out of it. This purification process is like removing the corn kernels from a cornstalk to put into a can to sell at the supermarket.
Peptide immunotherapy as described in this new research is like making the "essence" of the corn kernel in the lab. For this cat vaccine, the key molecule created is a 7 amino acid long peptide sequence.
The benefits of this novel treatment is the lack of side-effects when the shots are administered (meaning, no waiting around after the shot)... and only four to eight shots per year are required (rather than the weekly injections with current allergy shots).
The optimal dose to use is currently being determined in phase three clinical trials.
Reference:
Development and preliminary clinical evaluation of a peptide immunotherapy vaccine for cat allergy. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2011 Jan;127(1):89-97, 97.e1-14.
Thursday, 30 September 2010
The data to obtain these results were obtained from 636 children enrolled in the Cincinnati Childhood Allergy & Air Pollution Study (CCAAPS), a long-term study examining the effects of environmental particulates on childhood respiratory health and allergy development. Notably, all these children are at risk for allergies as their parents have them.
Allergy testing was accomplished by skin prick tests.
Read news article on this here.
Reference:
Genetic and environmental risk factors for childhood eczema development and allergic sensitization in the CCAAPS cohort. J Invest Dermatol. 2010 Feb;130(2):430-7. Epub 2009 Sep 17
Opposing Effects of Cat and Dog Ownership and Allergic Sensitization on Eczema in an Atopic Birth Cohort. J Pediatr. 2010 Sep 29. [Epub ahead of print]
Thursday, 19 August 2010
New research published in this month's Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology reported that patients with allergy to cat, dog, and/or dust mite resulted in increased allergy symptom severity to other allergies like ragweed.
In other words, if you have a cat allergy and also allergic to ragweed, the cat will actually make your allergy to ragweed even worse than if you did not have a cat (or have a cat allergy).
These year-round allergies appear to “pre-prime” the immune system so symptoms hit harder, earlier, and faster.
So what can you do if this problem applies to you? Treat the cat, dog or dust mite allergy year round (or get rid of the cat/dog)!
Read a news article on this here.
Reference:
Factors that affect the allergic rhinitis response to ragweed allergen exposure. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2010 Apr;104(4):293-8.
Friday, 18 December 2009
In the last few weeks, there's been multiple media reports on the increased risk of cancer with common radiological tests due to radiation exposure, however minimal it may be.
Due to this concern, a website called "X-Ray Risk.com" was developed that calculates your increased cancer risk based on type of test, age, and gender.
For example, a CT Neck (a common CT test ordered by ENTs) on a 35 year-old male increases cancer risk by 0.046%. A chest x-ray? Only 0.001%.
Check out the website here.
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