Crohn’s: Living with a dog during childhood may reduce the risk of developing the disease

Researchers tracked more than 4000 people at risk of developing Crohn’s disease and found those who lived with a dog between ages 5 and 15 were 40 per cent less likely to develop the disease

By Grace Wade

People with a family history of Crohn’s disease who grew up with a dog were less likely to develop the condition.

Crohn’s is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD0. About 1.3 per cent of US adults have IBD, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prevalence of the disease 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 fact …