小時候家裏養貓，可能有益健康

Having a pet when you're a kid is awesome, but now it looks like cats have an extra benefit - they could offer protection against certain pulmonary conditions like bronchitis and pneumonia.
小時候擁有寵物是極好的，不過現在看起來養貓還有別的好處，像是可以防止某些肺部疾病，例如支氣管炎和肺炎。

Before you rush off and buy your newborn an anti-asthma kitty, you should know there's a catch - if you happen to have mutated versions of a certain gene, feline fluff could also trigger eczema.
趕着去買新生兒抗哮喘貓咪前，你還應該知道一個問題：假如你碰巧有一個特定的突變基因，貓毛可能也會引發溼疹。

Research by a team of scientists from the Copenhagen Studies on Asthma in Childhood Research Centre (COPSAC) in Denmark has provided a possible explanation for why studies on pets and asthma are so conflicted.
針對寵物和哮喘的研究結果存在矛盾這一問題，丹麥哥本哈根兒童哮喘研究中心的研究小組提供了一個可能的解釋。

So far studies have shown contradictory results - owning a pet can help prevent certain hypersensitivity disorders, make no difference at all, or make them worse.
到目前爲止，研究顯示了幾種矛盾的結果：擁有寵物可以幫助預防某些過敏性疾病，根本不會造成任何改變，或者只會加重病情。

It turns out the devil might be in the detail. And that detail is a variation of the gene 17q21.
事實證明，惡魔可能藏在細節之中，而這個細節就是基因17q21的變體。

Called TT, the genetic variant has already been found to double the risk of 'atopy' conditions such as asthma and inflammation of the bronchi, making it a prime candidate for studies looking at environmental influence on childhood development.
被稱爲TT的遺傳基因變體已被查出使“過敏性”疾病的風險加倍，例如哮喘和支氣管炎症，使其成爲環境對兒童發育影響研究的主要調查因素。

In the latest study, researchers analysed the medical, genetic, and environmental information from 377 Danish children whose mothers were diagnosed with a history of asthma. This included a map of their genes, and samples of allergens collected from their beds.
在最新的研究中，研究人員分析了377名丹麥兒童的醫學、遺傳和環境信息，他們的母親經診斷都有哮喘病史。這些信息包括他們的基因地圖，以及從他們牀上收集的過敏原樣本。

Just under a third of the children carried the TT variant, which should have made them more susceptible to developing asthma themselves.
只有不到三分之一的孩子攜帶了TT變體，這本應使得他們更容易患上哮喘。

On analysing the numbers, however, it turned out that having cat dander around when they were born, reduced the risk impact of the gene.
然而，分析數據後發現，孩子出生時如果家裏養了貓，這一基因的風險影響就會降低。

In other words, if you're unlucky enough to have the particular gene that doubles your chances of getting asthma, getting a cat early can help mitigate that risk.
換句話說，如果你不幸攜帶特定的基因使得你患哮喘的機率翻倍，那麼小的時候家裏養只貓可以幫助減輕這種風險。

The exact process behind the added protection isn't clear. Allergens could be directly interfering with the gene's expression, or maybe it's more convoluted, involving microbes in the cat's microflora.
這一現象背後的確切過程尚不清楚。過敏原可能會直接干擾基因的表達，也可能更復雜，涉及貓體內菌羣的微生物。

Whatever it is that cats shed, puppies don't have it. There was no similar decrease in asthma risk for those newborns who shared their home with a dog.
不管貓咪在其中發揮了怎樣的作用，小狗都無法發揮同樣的作用。這體現在對於那些家裏養狗的新生兒，哮喘風險並沒有類似的下降。

While the research doesn't point directly to a preventative treatment for asthma, it does emphasise how complicated disease development can be.
雖然這項研究並沒有直接指向哮喘的預防性治療，但確實強調了疾病發展的複雜程度。

"For me, this is the core message because it's a recognition in the direction of how disease occurs," says researcher Hans Bisgaard.
研究人員漢斯·比爾加德說：“對我來說，核心信息在於它是對疾病發展方向的一種認識。

"It documents the interplay between genetics and the environment we live in, and in particular that this occurs very early in life, both during pregnancy and in the home."
“它記錄了在遺傳基因和我們生活的環境間的相互作用，尤其當這種相互作用發生在生命的早期，無論是母親肚子裏的胎兒還是家中的幼兒。”

Just to add to the problem, there could be a cost to buying junior a cat. Previous research conducted by COPSAC had found that people with mutant versions of the gene encoding a binding protein called filaggrin suffered an added risk of developing eczema if they had a cat.
更麻煩的一點是，給青少年買貓咪可能會付出代價。哥本哈根兒童哮喘研究中心此前研究發現，攜帶一種叫做聚角蛋白的結合蛋白基因變體的人，如果養了一隻貓，則會增加患溼疹的風險。

Having a dog, on the other hand, offered a moderate amount of protection for those with and without the mutation.
另一方面，對於基因突變和無基因突變的人來說，養一條狗可以提供適度的保護。

Short of getting genetic screens done and buying a pet based on our unique genetics – which, by the way, could one day be a reality – we're left with a gamble.
我們尚未完成基因篩選，也還不能根據每個人獨一無二的遺傳基因來買寵物，這在有朝一日可能成爲現實，不過目前只能是賭一把了。

On the balance, having some kind of pet or two around growing children seems to provide a bunch of benefits, so you can't go wrong either way. But it's also possible that many of those advantages have nothing to do with the animals themselves.
總的來說，成長的孩子身邊有一兩隻寵物似乎帶來很多好處，所以你選擇養寵物是沒錯的。不過，也有可能這些好處或者有點與動物本身沒有關係。

But we have more information now about the interaction between asthma and kitties, and the good news is that even for asthma-prone people, a cat can be a very good thing.
但是現在我們有更多關於哮喘和小貓之間相互作用的信息，好消息是，即使對於容易患哮喘的人，養貓也可能是件好事。