Sit, speak, and play dead — dogs can learn plenty of tricks, if you’re willing to take a little time to teach them.

But the best trick of all comes naturally: Pets can chase away asthma and allergies the way a guard dog can scare off burglars — and it doesn’t take a loud bark or a lot of teeth.

In fact, even a lazy old cat has this power — because kids born to mothers who had pets during pregnancy have lower levels of the IgE antibodies linked to allergies and asthma.

Researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit tested those antibody levels in 1,187 babies at birth, six months, and two years, and found that the kids who had prenatal pet exposure had up to 33 percent fewer than children from petless homes.

The biggest benefit went to children of European, Asian, or Middle Eastern descent, who got the full 33 percent drop.

For black children, the difference was only 10 percent — but still enough to put them at least a baby step ahead of asthma and allergies, and that’s nothing to sneeze at.

Babies born vaginally to women with pets also got a bigger boost, with IgE levels 16 percent lower than C-section infants.

In other words, pets don’t always cause allergies and asthma — and they might even prevent them.

But while that means Spot can “stay” in homes with a new baby, there is one threat even the roughest, toughest Rottweiler can’t chase away: mold.

Having this stuff around the house could lead to a childhood of breathing misery.

Researchers examined data on 176 children who were believed to be at high risk for asthma because of a family history of the disease. They also used a test called the environmental relative moldiness index, which measures levels of 36 different types of mold to create an overall “mold burden.”

And that mold brings some burden. Kids from homes with the highest mold burdens were three times more likely to come down with asthma during the seven-year study period than kids with little mold exposure.

The researchers wrote in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology that parents of kids at risk for asthma should make sure they find and fix water damage and get rid of all the mold — which is pretty good advice for everyone else, too.

It’s a breath of fresh air for asthma sufferers — and yet that’s all it is: Air.

Believe it or not, plain old air delivered via an asthma inhaler can actually bring as much relief as an inhaler filled with a common asthma med.

And that’s nothing to wheeze at.

Researchers asked 39 asthma patients to make 12 visits to a medical clinic, spaced between three and seven days apart, to try one of four treatment options at each visit: an inhaler with the drug albuterol, an inhaler with plain air, sham acupuncture, or nothing at all.

By the end of the study, everyone had tried everything three times. And after each treatment (or lack of treatment), the volunteers were given tests to measure lung function and asked to rate their level of improvement on a scale of 1 to 10.

The only thing that didn’t work much was no treatment at all — and even that left some patients feeling at least a little better, with an average reported improvement of 21 percent.

The drug, empty inhaler and sham acupuncture, on the other hand, led to improvements of 50 percent, 45 percent and  6 percent, respectively — a difference the researchers say was not statistically significant.

The drug did win when it came to more objective measures — it actually did a much better job of opening the airways, boosting lung function by 20 percent versus 7 percent for everything else (including no treatment at all).

But here’s the thing: The patients didn’t actually feel the difference — and that’s what really counts, right?

It’s not the first case of fake treatments leading to real relief: Other studies have shown that placebos can work for everything from pain to depression to stomach disorders.

One groundbreaking study found that placebos can even work when people know they’re taking one.

But for a condition like asthma, a placebo alone often won’t be enough.

Asthma is often triggered or worsened by weight, allergies (including food sensitivities) and stress — and if you can get all three under control, you’ll find yourself breathing easier than ever.

You might reach the point where you won’t need an inhaler anymore — even if it’s just an empty one.

I can’t think of anything less appetizing than a drink filled with thousands of worm eggs — but if it meant beating a serious and life-wrecking disease with limited options, I’d swallow it all without thinking twice.

I know — as far as the gross-o-meter goes, this one is off the charts… but a series of new studies finds that stomach worms can actually help defeat multiple sclerosis.

In one small study, four of the five MS patients who drank a solution of 2,500 pig whipworm eggs every two weeks for three months had fewer of the brain lesions that mark the condition.

In an upcoming study, 70 patients will let researchers infect them with hookworms. Instead of drinking eggs, these worms will burrow into the shoulder and wriggle their way to the stomach.

Both lines of research are promising, but there’s at least one big difference between the two: Your body will take care of whipworms on its own, but you’ll need de-worming tablets to flush out the hookworms.

So, of the two, it would seem as if the worm juice might be the better option — but I’m sure most MS patients would eat a plate live earthworms if it meant a cure for the disease.

I don’t think a trip to your doctor’s office will ever resemble an episode of “Fear Factor,” but stomach worms might be part of the mainstream care for this disease soon enough — because if earlier studies are any indication, the research under way now should get some serious results.

In one study out of Argentina just a few years ago, researchers compared 12 MS patients who suffered a parasite infection to 12 with no worms. Those with the worms had just three relapses over an average follow-up of 4.6 years
versus 56 among those without the parasites.

The worm patients also had less disability, fewer brain lesions as revealed on MRI scans, and measurable beneficial changes in the blood.

MS isn’t the only autoimmune disorder that you can worm your way out of. Other studies have shown that the creepy-crawlies can help fight Crohn’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome along with asthma and even some allergies.

These are all tough-to-beat conditions… yet some of the simplest creatures on the planet may be able to stop them cold.

That’s humbling… and yes, a little bit gross.

At some point, the mainstream is going to have to take the book they have on asthma, and tear it up–because nearly everything in it is flat-out wrong.

Take the national guidelines that call for asthma patients to double their dose of inhaled steroids such as Pulmicort or Flovent at the start of an attack.

As it turns out, all that does is give asthmatics an extra dose of steroids–because it certainly doesn’t help prevent an asthma flare-up.

Canadian researchers pooled the best data from five clinical trials on approximately 1,250 patients–mostly adults–who had been randomly chosen to take either the usual dose of a steroid inhaler, or an increased dose, when they felt an attack coming on.

And according to the study published by The Cochrane Collaboration, the researchers found no benefit to that double dose. In fact, they found that even a quadruple dose didn’t make patients less likely to need rescue treatments
such as a prednisone injection.

But while those extra puffs of the inhaler might not prevent an asthma attack, they can increase the risk of side effects–including thrush, a yeast infection in the mouth.

And long-term use of inhaled steroids has been linked to thinning bones and osteoporosis in both men and women,
weight gain, mood swings, stunted growth and acne–just to name a few.

While no one should give up their inhalers without talking to a doctor first, there are other ways to help breathe easier and limit or even eliminate the use of meds.

First, if you’re obese, lose the weight. Obese people suffer asthma at double the rate of their normal-weight counterparts, and account for 75 percent of all asthma-related emergency room visits.

Secondly, speak with an experienced allergist or immunologist willing to give you the extensive tests you need to determine your allergies. While it’s widely recognized that environmental allergens can bring on
attacks, food allergies can also play a huge role–even if many in the mainstream won’t acknowledge it.

But since these are the same people who’ve been telling you to double your steroid dose for no good reason, why listen to them?

The truth is, food allergies can cause attacks in many patients–and if you work with a doctor who can help determine what’s really eating you, you can avoid those foods and the attacks that come with them.

In addition, consider a safer and more natural coping strategy such as the breathing exercises of the Buteyko method, which have helped asthmatics cut back on meds by up to 90 percent.

I think you’ll agree: Cutting back is way better than doubling the dose.