Can pet allergies affect RA?

JayNelly,

I only found one article about this subject. I woudl not call the findings conclusive. But it is interesting.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11071582

Hi JayNelly! I do hope you get some feedback from our community members on your question. I know some members have had to re-home their pets if they had specific allergies to said pets or if their RA symptoms kept them from being able to properly care for the pets. However, I am not aware of any members re-homing their pets to help with chronic inflammation. If you haven't done so already, this would be a great question to ask your doctor. I can see how you might consider the constant inflammation from pet allergies as a trigger for your RA (since RA is basically an autoimmune response gone wild). So, your theory might bear further study. I hope you get some helpful feedback from our community members and that if you do need to re-home your pets, that you are able to find new owners that will care for them well. Thanks for reaching out and for asking such an interesting question! Best, Erin, RheumatoidArthritis.net Team Member.

Hi JayNelly. As Erin said, there does seem to be a logic to the idea that allergies and RA could be connected considering the immune system and inflammation commonalities. There is a difference in that an allergy is basically an overreaction of the immune system to an outside stimulus, while autoimmune conditions involve the immune system attacking the person's body. I expanded on what Rick looked at to include simply the impact of allergies on RA and there is still very little. I did find this study from earlier this year that found a potential link between asthma and allergies and an increased risk of developing RA: https://www.pulmonologyadvisor.com/home/topics/asthma/asthma-and-allergies-may-be-associated-with-rheumatoid-arthritis/. As Erin said, hopefully your doctor can provide additional insight. Best, Richard (RheumatoidArthritis.net Team)