Researchers tracked more than 4000 people at risk of developing Crohn’s disease and found that those who lived with a dog between the ages of 5 and 15 were 40 per cent less likely to develop the disease
Having a dog during childhood may be protective
Shutterstock / Melounix
People with a family history of Crohn’s disease who grow up with a dog seem less likely to develop the condition.
Crohn’s is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). About 1.3 per cent of US adults have IBD, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prevalence of the condition is increasing in the US and other Western countries for unknown reasons. One potential explanation is the so-called hygiene hypothesis.
“The hygiene hypothesis is related to the …