Beating asthma with allergens

It turns out there's such a thing as too clean after all.

Researchers say today's kids are being raised with less exposure to dust, dirt and pets… and while that might make for easier bath times, it's leading to more cases of asthma.

A new study out of Britain finds that kids raised in a typical modern home are more likely to get asthma than kids who live on farms and children who go to daycare. And they say it's because both the farm kids and daycare children get exposed to more and different kinds of dust, dirt and allergens.

The researchers also found that cats and dogs helped bring more and different kinds of dust into the home--exposing the kids to more potential allergens and helping to reduce the risk of asthma, according to the study published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Here, kitty kitty!

Like the United States, Britain has seen an explosion of asthma. Cases here have doubled since the 1980s, but in the U.K., they've tripled in that time.

But the problem isn't just dust and pets--it's much bigger than that.

Another new study finds our declining lack of sun exposure could be playing a big role in children's asthma.

Researchers say kids with asthma who have low levels of vitamin D have higher levels of the IgE antibodies associated with allergies. These children had worse asthma symptoms, and needed meds more often, according to the study published online in the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology.

The researchers say 47 percent of child asthma patients had insufficient levels of vitamin D, and 17 percent had actually had a D deficiency.

In other words, make sure your child spends some more time outside and a little less time plugged in to the latest video game (whether he or she has asthma or not). Throw in a D supplement too-- and while you're at it, add one for yourself since most adults are suffering from low levels of this crucial vitamin, too.

And then stay away from any place with a drive-through window, because another new study finds that children who eat fast food have a higher risk of asthma.

Canadian researchers say that while breastfeeding as a baby has been shown to lower the risk of asthma in kids later on, eating fast food actually negates that benefit. In fact, kids who eat fast food regularly are twice as likely to have asthma than kids who don't, according to the study published in Clinical and Experimental Allergy.

And that increased risk applies to kids who breastfed, too.

Call that one more reason to keep yourself and your children far away from anything with golden arches, a crown or bright red pigtails.

On a mission for your health,
Ed Martin
Editor, House Calls