Removing pets improves asthma symptoms

Asthmatic patients who are allergic to pets might have to choose between their animal friend and better health. Getting rid of the pet is more effective than optimal drug therapy in reducing wheezing and airway constriction. It is obvious that pet removal would improve the symptoms of pet-allergic asthmatics, but very few studies have looked at the effect of doing so in terms of patients' airway function. To investigate, researchers from the Fujinomiya City General Hospital in Japan assessed airway function in 20 asthmatic pet owners. Half of them got rid of their pets and half did not. A year later, the group that gave up their pets had a greater reduction in the tendency of their airways to constrict and cause difficulty in breathing than did the group that kept the pets. In addition, none of the pet-removal participants required inhaled steroid therapy, while 9 of 10 patients in the pet-keeping group did. Due to the small size of the study and other limitations, the current findings must be considered preliminary. More stringent studies are needed for convincing evidence.