For many years, the idea that Chihuahuas can cure asthma has been passed around. Citing personal experience or hearsay from someone else, supporters of this idea believe that the toy breed dog really can take away asthma from its owner. They may claim that the dog should sleep on the chest of the asthmatic person to somehow take in the asthma itself.
Short-haired Chihuahuas may be considered somewhat more hypoallergenic than many dog breeds but the scientific and medical community regards the loss of asthma symptoms in the presence of a Chihuahua as purely coincidental or psychosomatic. In fact, in some cases, some dogs and other pets may even bring on asthma symptoms such as shortness of breath and wheezing.
Origin of Chihuahua as an Asthma Cure
The origin of this folk remedy is not clear but several theories can be considered. Although asthma treatment includes medications and other measures, at present, the medical world has no cure for the respiratory disease. The majority of asthma cases are successfully managed but some severe asthmatics, in their search for relief, may be willing to accept, and pass on, unorthodox ideas. At any rate, the folk remedy has been around for many years.
One rumor has it that the superstition may be somehow connected with the Aztecs. In history, Chihuahuas were quite popular with the Aztecs who held the belief that the dog would take on the sins of a dead person and guide him through death to afterlife.
Perhaps seeming to add support to the asthma-cure belief, Chihuahuas sometimes have respiratory problems and may make wheezing sounds similar to asthmatics. Since asthma seems to be most prevalent in children who often lose their asthma symptoms as they mature, it may be easy for some to conclude that the coincidental Chihuahua in the household “took away” the asthma from the child.
Another theory may be that acquiring a faithful companion like the Chihuahua may ease stress and tension in the life of the asthma sufferer which in some cases may relieve asthma symptoms. Dogs and other pets have certainly been proven to lower blood pressure and hasten healing in some illnesses.
Managing Asthma
While a Chihuahua can be a good choice as a pet and loyal friend, the best choice of asthma treatment, according to the Mayo Clinic, is under the care of a physician, generally with long-term control medications, quick-relief medications, possible allergy treatment, and avoidance of bronchial inflammation triggers.
Readers of this article may also be interested in Allergic to Dogs?.
Joy Butler - Writer, retired lab tech, mom, and animal lover with over 20 years' experience rescuing, kenneling, training and showing dogs.
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