A new study confirms what all you dog and cat owners probably already new: pets can serve as important sources of social and emotional support in our lives, researchers say.

The study, conducted by Ohio researchers, found that pet owners could be just as close to their animals as to other key people in their lives.  Furthermore, people were able to rely more on pets when their human social support was poorer.

Pet owners also seemed to have a number of other advantages over non-pet owners.  For instance, pet owners had greater self-esteem, were more physically fit, tended to be less lonely, were more conscientious, were more extraverted, tended to be less fearful and tended to be less preoccupied than non-owners.

And all these benefits of owning a pet did not seem to come at an expense of human relationships, the researchers said.

The conclusions come from three separate studies that compared pet owners to non-pet owners.  One study examined well-being, personality type and attachment style, another looked at fulfillment of social needs, and the last observed differences in bouncing back from rejection.

In all three studies, pet owners fared significantly better than their non-pet owning counterparts.

Previous studies have suggested that pet owners are also healthier or better able to bounce back better from disease and injury.

“The present work presents considerable evidence that pets benefit the lives of their owners, both psychologically and physically, by serving as an important source of social support,” the researchers wrote. “Whereas past work has focused primarily on pet owners facing significant health challenges, the present study establishes that there are many positive consequences for everyday people who own pets.”

The research was published by the American Psychological Association.

Keeping a dog or cat in the home during a child’s first year of life does not appear to increase the risk of a child becoming allergic to the animals in the future, according to a new study.

In fact, the researchers say, the findings indicate exposure to a pet early in life may actually decrease the likelihood that a child may later suffer from allergies.

Researchers from Henry Ford Hospital followed over 500 children for the first 18 years of their lives.  The researchers periodically contacted the parents and children to collect information about exposure to cats and dogs.

At age 18, the study participants were asked for blood samples, which the researchers measured for antibodies to dog and cat allergens.

The results showed that being exposed to the specific animal in the first year of life was the most important exposure period, and not only did it not increase the risk of children’s allergies, it actually appeared to be protective in some groups.

Males whose family had kept an indoor dog during their first year of life were about half as likely to become allergic to dogs compared to males in families with no dogs.  Both men and women were about half as likely to become allergic to cats if they lived with one in the first year of life.

The study was published in the journal Clinical & Experimental Allergy.

Forty percent of American children have seasonal allergies. When a parent has allergies, his or her child will probably have them too.

Most allergies tend to appear in childhood. So, if you have seasonal allergies as an adult, you probably started getting them as a kid.

As children, boys get more allergies than girls, but as they get older, women usually catch up to men.

Even though we say allergies are seasonal, they can occur year-round. In the spring, you can get allergies to grass and pollen, and in the fall you can get allergies to ragweed, molds and spores of different kinds.

Allergies occur when pollen, mold or dust kick your immune system into high gear, triggering a release of histamines, those chemicals that are mostly responsible for the sneezing, the runny nose, the itchy throat, and the watery eyes.

If teenagers weren’t properly exposed to their environment as children, their immune system won’t be able to recognize as harmless the pollen, dust and mold spores around them every day.

Loading the Virus Protection Program

Your immune system is essentially a system of specialized cells and organs that protects you from outside threats such as viruses, bacteria and other biological outsiders.

It is during the first decade of life that it learns which biological intrusions it needs to protect you against. What this means is, if you don’t get exposed to many of the harmless biological threats in your environment during your first decade of life, if you do not challenge the immune system early, you may pay the price with seasonal allergies and asthma throughout the rest of your life.

I’m talking about the dangers of over protecting our children. Some of this overprotection has been institutionalized in the form of widespread use of antibiotics, vaccinations against various diseases, cleaner food and water, and better living conditions.

But some parents may make this “problem” worse by keeping their kids at home in a “sterilized” environment – never taking them to the park, never letting them play in a sandbox, never letting them roll around in the grass, never letting them have a pet at home, and keeping them away from other kids who may be sick.

By underexposing our children to bacteria, certain viruses, and other minor threats in the environment, their immune systems will not develop the appropriate responses, and they may end up with seasonal allergies and other problems of an inexperienced immune system.

Studies show that if you have a pet when you’re a kid, you are less likely to get asthma. The same applies to running and rolling around in the grass at the park when you are three years old; those who do tend to have fewer seasonal allergies later on. A little exposure is a good thing.

Allergy Prevention

Prevention is the best treatment for seasonal allergies. Have you heard of spring cleaning? They don’t call it that for nothing.

If people in your household have allergies, it is important to do a thorough cleaning of the house, especially in the spring, by removing all the dust that has collected in your house over the winter.

It’s a good time to shampoo your rugs, vacuum all the nooks and crannies, and remove the mold from all kitchen, bathroom and garage surfaces.

If you have allergies in the spring and summer, take a few precautionary steps to avoid bringing allergens back into the house.

When you come in from the outdoors, don’t bring the clothes you’ve worn outdoors into the bedroom; change in another part of the house and take a shower, if you can.

Avoid being outdoors from the late morning to early afternoon, as those are the peak hours for pollen production. Keep your windows closed if you’re really allergic.

Forget the personal trainer.  Your dog can give you a workout for free.

Several studies, including a recently published one from the University of Michigan, show that dogs can act as powerful motivators to get people moving, the New York Times reported.

Dog owners are both more likely to take regular walks and be more active overall compared to people who do not have dogs, according to researchers.  Some studies even indicate that dogs are better than humans as walking companions, so far as motivation is concerned.

Michigan State University researchers surveyed the habits of 5,900 people, including 2,170 dog owners, and found that two-thirds of the dog owners took their dogs for regular walks.

Of those who took their dogs for regular walks, 60 percent met federal criteria for moderate or vigorous exercise and nearly half exercised an average of 30 minutes a day at least five days a walk.

Meanwhile, only a third of people without dogs got that much regular exercise.

Dog owners were also more likely to take part in other leisure-time physical activities such as sports and gardening.  On average, dog owners exercised 30 minutes more than people without dogs.

However, owning a dog did not guarantee physical activity.  The owners in the study who did not regularly walk their dogs reported less exercise than dog walkers and people who did not own dogs.

Click here to read more from the New York Times.