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All creatures great and small
The expression ‘a dog is a man's best friend’ was reported to have been made by Frederick II, king of Prussia in 1789. More than just being ‘man's best friend’, this large Swedish study (JAMA Pediatr 2015;169:e153219 doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.3219) demonstrated a reduced asthma risk for children who had early exposure to dogs. Children who grew up with exposure to dogs during their first year had a 15% reduction in the risk of developing asthma by age 6. The study also analysed the relationship between farm animals and asthma development and found that exposure to farm animals was associated with a 52% reduction in asthma in school age children.
Re-examining ACE levels in sarcoidosis
In this population-based study (Lung doi 10.1007/s00408-015-9826-3), the authors showed that high serum ACE levels have poor sensitivity and insufficient specificity for diagnosis of sarcoidosis, reinforcing their limited diagnostic use in clinical practice. However, the value of monitoring serum ACE levels to assess disease course remains unclear.
Sleep apnoea in the elderly
The first reports of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in medical …
Footnotes
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.