Hi All,
This must be easier for all of us..........
Breast-Feeding May Increase Later Asthma Risk in Atopic Offspring
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WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) Mar 12 - Breast-feeding, in general, appears
to protect all children against wheezing in early infancy. However, such
feeding may greatly increase the risk of subsequent asthma in atopic
children of asthmatic mothers, researchers report in the March issue of
Thorax.
Dr. Anne L. Wright, of the University of Arizona, Tucson, and colleagues
note that "the relationship between infant feeding and childhood asthma is
controversial." To investigate the influence of exclusive breast-feeding
for more than 4 months, the researchers studied data on 1246 subjects who
had been followed from birth to the age of 13 years.
In the first 2 years of life, exclusive breast-feeding cut the risk of
wheeze by more than half (odds ratio 0.45). This was true, say the
researchers, "regardless of the presence of maternal asthma or atopy in the
child."
However, Dr. Wright told Reuters Health, "we should not change the
recommendations that women, including those who have asthma, breast-feed
exclusively for at least the first 4 to 6 months of life."
This is important, she added, "because human milk provides protection
against infection for all children." Furthermore, "it is only in allergic
children born to asthmatic mothers in whom we find an increased risk of
asthma associated with breast-feeding. Since it is not possible to know at
birth whether a child will be allergic, this finding should not influence
infant feeding practices."
Thorax 2001;56:192-197.
Renate.
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Renate Rietveld, IBCLC
E-mail : [log in to unmask]
Homepage: http://home.wanadoo.nl/renate.rietveld.ibclc
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