離開
進入《中英對照讀新聞》Childhood pets linked to lower allergy risk 兒童時期養寵物與降低過敏風險有關
◎魏國金
Good news for families that would love to have a furry dog or cat but hesitate for fear the kids might become allergic: Fido or Kitty might actually be good for children’s health, scientists say.
對想擁有毛茸茸的狗狗或貓咪，卻因擔心小孩或許過敏而有所遲疑的家庭來說這是個好消息︰狗或貓或許實際上有益於兒童健康，科學家說。
They found that children who were exposed to animals at a young age had lower rates of nasal allergies as adolescents.
科學家發現，幼年與動物接觸的兒童，青少年時鼻子過敏的比率較低。
"Family pets, in particular dogs...need not be removed to prevent allergies, and in fact may protect against them," Melanie Matheson of the University of Melbourne, lead author of the study said.
「家庭寵物，特別是狗不需為了預防過敏而被除去，事實上或許還能防範過敏。」該研究主筆、墨爾本大學的馬瑟森說。
Looking at survey responses from nearly 8,500 adults from Europe and Australia, Matheson and colleagues focused on those who grew up around house pets or farm animals, and those who had the troublesome runny noses, itchy eyes, and sore throats that plague nasal allergy sufferers.
觀察歐洲與澳洲近8500名成人的調查回應，馬瑟森與其同僚聚焦於那些成長時身邊有寵物或家畜者，以及那些有令人苦惱的流鼻水、眼睛癢、喉嚨痛等現象的人，這些症狀折磨著鼻子過敏者。
In the new study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, more than one in four respondents said they had nasal allergies. In most cases, people said their allergies started when they were adolescents.
在這份發表於過敏與與臨床免疫學期刊的新研究，4名回應者中，超過1人有鼻子過敏，而在大部分的案例，人們說他們的過敏是從青少年開始。
A number of factors were linked to a higher risk of nasal allergies in the study. Some, like a family history of allergies and the mother smoking while pregnant, are well documented risk factors.
在該研究中，一些因素與較高的鼻過敏罹患風險有關，比如家庭過敏史與母親懷孕時抽菸都是證據充分的風險因子。
新聞辭典
Fido︰名詞，意指狗狗。出處來自美國總統林肯的寵物狗「Fido」，fido的拉丁字是「fidelis」，意思是忠實的、忠誠的。
exposed︰形容詞，暴露的、無遮蔽的、易受攻擊的。例句︰Children are exposed to many diseases.（小孩容易感染多種疾病。）
well documented︰有據可查的、證據充分的。例句︰The link between poverty and sickness is well documented.（貧窮與疾病的關聯是有據可查的。）
