I picked this up this morning from a news site. This story is in our
newspapers, and on day time TV, and on Ceefax (the info pages of text
TV) - and I have already had a call from a worried mother about it.
According to the papers, the story is in the journal Thorax, but I
can't find the study listed in the contents of the on-line version.

I can't tell, therefore, if any mechanism is suggested for this
phenomenon, or, indeed if the researchers controlled for other
factors. One possibility is that both bf and asthma are markers for
ultra-clean homes! Ultra-clean mothers have already been considered
by asthma experts as being responsible for reducing immunity.

Any ideas, or further info?



Asthmatic mothers may pass the condition on to their babies through
their breast milk, according to new research. Scientists from the
Respiratory Sciences Centre in Tucson, Arizona, found that that
breast-feeding protects against asthma up to the age of two years.
However, by the age of six, children with asthmatic mothers were five
times more likely to wheeze if they had been breast-fed an effect
that persisted into their teenage years. However, the increased risk
only applies to children who have a tendency to allergic reaction -
something that only becomes apparent at an age long after decisions
about whether or not to breast-feed have been made. The researchers
insist that asthmatic mothers should continue to breast-feed since
its known advantages, including better growth and development,
outweigh any possible adverse effects.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html