Here’s what a recent scientific study says
A recent scientific study devoted to the possibilities of receiving a diagnosis of Crohn’s disease reveals that i children with a dog or with several siblings have a lower risk of getting this chronic inflammatory bowel disease. The study was conducted by Mount Sinai Hospital and the University of Toronto and will be presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2022.
Researchers administered an environmental questionnaire to 4,300 first-degree relatives of Crohn’s disease patients enrolled in the Crohn’s and Colitis Canada Genetic, Environmental, and Microbial (CCC-GEM) project.
The scholars then cross-referenced the answers given to the questionnaire and the historical data collected at the time of involvement. Doctor Williams Turpintogether with his colleagues, they then analyzed environmental factors such as:
- family size
- presence of dogs or cats as pets
- number of bathrooms in the house
- age at the time of exposure
The study found that exposure to dogs ages 5 to 15, in particular, ensured better intestinal permeability and a greater balance of gut microbes, as well as a better immune response from the body to protect against Crohn’s disease. .
Similar results were also obtained in case of exposure to dogs from groups with other age ranges.
We haven’t seen the same results with cats, although we’re still trying to determine why. Perhaps that can be explained by the fact that dog owners go out with their pets more often. Or they live in areas with more green space, a condition that other scholars have previously found to be useful in protecting against Crohn’s.
Children with a dog or siblings and Crohn’s disease, this explains the connection
Williams Turpin, senior author of the study and an associate researcher at Mount Sinai Hospital and the University of Toronto, explains:
Our study appears to add to others who have explored the hygiene hypothesis which suggests that lack of exposure to microbes early in life can lead to a lack of immune regulation against environmental microbes.
#Children #dog #siblings #risk #Crohns #disease #Curler