Last week, we established that this year is indeed the all-time worst allergy season ever in the history of dander, pollen and dust—don't blame us, science says so! But it still left the question of why this year has been so much worse than years past. It can't all be the trees' fault, right? And why has our asthma been so much worse? Now, we have one other possible answer: maybe you've been spending too much time with cockroaches?
A new study by Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health found that higher exposure to cockroach dust may explain why some NYC kids are more likely to have asthma. The researchers collected dust, containing cockroach, mouse and cat allergens from the beds of 239 children (7 or 8 years old), all from middle-income families in households widely scattered across the city (though specifically not in the most affluent areas). They found that children in high-asthma neighborhoods were more likely to have been exposed to cockroaches than those in low-asthma neighborhoods, and twice as likely to be allergic to them—23.7 percent vs. 10.8 percent.
But there is one possible silver lining to come out of the study—there may be a different kind of allergen which prevents asthma. A creature whose silky expulsions protect us even as they indifferently nuzzle their soft bodies against our sleeping heads at night. Matthew Perzanowski, senior author of the study, told the Times, “I think the jury is still out,” but there is some evidence that exposure to cats could actually protect people from developing asthma. As if we needed yet another reason to get our beloved Mr. Patches mummified!
