Having a pet at home brings several known benefits to their caregivers: the possibility of giving and receiving love, company, having a loyal friend and even having an aid for sick children or with some disorder (Like the dog who realized that the girl suffered from hypoglycemia or the story of a boy with autism and his dog).
But these are not the only ones, because recent research has shown that the intestinal flora of babies living with animals with hair is modified to the point of decrease the risk of allergy and decrease, too, the probability that the baby will end up being obese.
The differences are already seen at 3 months of life
Researchers from the University of Alberta, in Canada, have recently published in the journal Microbiome Journal a study in which they show that babies exposed to the hair of dogs, cats and other animals with hair have, at 3 months of age, a greater number of colonies of Ruminococcus Y Oscillospora.
These two types of intestinal bacteria are considered beneficial for health, because their presence is associated, as we have said, with a lower risk of allergy and one lower incidence of childhood obesity.
Greater benefit in case of caesarean section
It is known that babies born by caesarean section suffer a different intestinal colonization than babies born vaginally, who receive a large number of known bacteria in the birth canal, because they are from the mother's body (where the baby comes). This difference in colonization seems to be associated with an increased risk of allergies, and that is why for some time there are those who solve it by passing a gauze previously introduced into the mother's vagina through the baby's face.
Well, in the investigation they have seen that these babies benefit even more from the colonization that brings the presence of animals with hair, since they would leave with a greater disadvantage at the level of intestinal microbiota, especially if the difference was 3 months old It is as obvious as they say.
Lower risk of asthma
Two years ago we told you another study that said something similar, that Children who live with their dog have a lower risk of asthma than children who don't have hairy pets.
And it is that there are already a few studies that show that this added environmental "dirt" seems to be positive in the health of babies and children, or what is the same, that excessive hygiene, contrary to what It had always been thought, it is negative for children because the immune system, in the absence of sufficient pathogens and microorganisms, begins to work against things that it should not: a food, an environmental element, or even cells of the body itself (autoimmune diseases).
A new research path
The positive of the finding, according to the researchers, is that this knowledge could be harnessed in the future, with new studies, to see how changes that occur with pets in 3 months, could occur much earlier. Thus, in babies with a higher risk of allergy, you could try to colonize your intestine not only with the mother's bacteria, but also with those of some furry animal, and see how positive it could be.
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In Babies and more | Is it dangerous to have a dog if you have a baby? How to improve the defenses of babies and children, are children who live with dogs healthier?
