If you don’t have Crohn’s disease, take a moment to thank your large family — or your childhood dog. A link between the inflammatory bowel disease and living arrangements in childhood may seem incongruous but new research says otherwise.
Scientists at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto have determined that exposure to dogs — especially for kids between the ages of 5 and 15 — helps strike a balance between the body’s immune response and gut microbes. Dog ownership was also linked to healthy gut permeability. All of those are factors that help protect against Crohn’s disease later in life.
To determine that, the scientists first gathered information from more than 4,000 close relatives of people with Crohn’s disease. Then, they analyzed factors that included family size, the presence of pets and other environmental factors, such as drinking well water and living on a farm.
Beyond the canine connection, infants who lived with three or more family members for at least their first year of life also were less prone to Crohn’s disease as adults. As with dogs, the researchers believe that exposure to an array of microbes early in life may lead to a favorable gut microbiome that can ward off Crohn’s disease.
The scientists don’t know exactly why having a dog leads to lower risk for Crohn’s disease but they have a few theories. Perhaps, they said, dog owners get outside more often or live in areas with more greenspace. Both of those factors have been shown to help dial back the disease.
But for people who had felines during their formative years, no such protective effect was seen. More evidence, it seems, that dogs rule and cats … don’t prevent Crohn’s disease.