On 9/15/05 8:53 AM, "Peg Merrill" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> I caught a short piece on the news last night about research now showing
> that babies deleivered by C-section had much higher rates of milk allergy.
> They were then talking about doing more research into this "unusual
> phenomina".  Now of course we all know that baby's born by C-section are
> much more likely to get formula supplementation in the hospital, thus early
> introduction to cow's milk protein, but the news media weren't making this
> connection at all (at least on the part I heard).  Did anyone else see this
> and get the details of who did the study, etc.  More importanly, any ideas
> as to how to get them to make the connection to early formula use and food
> allergy later?

Here's the Reuters report on this research:

Risk of cow milk allergy Increased after c-section
Wed Sep 14, 2005 1:06 PM BST

 By Will Boggs, MD

 NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children delivered by cesarean section face
twice the risk of developing allergy or intolerance to cow's milk than other
children, according to a report in the medical journal Allergy.

 The thinking is that compared to infants born normally, children delivered
by c-section are exposed less to maternal bacteria and their digestive
tracts are consequently not colonized in the normal way. Their immune system
in turn overreacts to allergenic substances.

 Dr. Merete Eggesboe from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo,
and colleagues, who previously reported a similar association between
cesarean delivery and egg, fish, and nut allergy, investigated possible
links to cow milk allergy in 2656 participants in the Oslo Birth Cohort.

 The team found that cow milk allergy or intolerance was twice as common
among children delivered by cesarean section compared to children delivered
vaginally.

 None of the children previously diagnosed with milk allergy or intolerance
but deemed tolerant by age 2.5 years had been delivered by cesarean section,
the researchers note, suggesting that c-section makes it less likely that
children will become tolerant.

 "The results of the present study cannot be explained by differences
between predisposed and not predisposed children and thus provides support
for early intestinal colonization playing a role in the etiology of food
allergy," the investigators conclude.

 "We have started a study on the intestinal microflora in children, relating
it to mode of delivery and development of allergic diseases," Eggesboe told
Reuters Health. "The aim is to study whether any of the observed differences
in intestinal microflora tied to mode of delivery, is also associated with
subsequent development of allergic disease."

 SOURCE: Allergy, September 2005.

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

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