Dear Catherine,

I believe that the article you are referring to is Thorax 2001;56:192-7. "Factors influencing the relation of infant feeding to asthma and recurrent wheeze in childhood."

The following is taken from an abstract written by Harvey McConnell about this article:

Mothers who are asthmatic and breastfeed their infants do not seem to offer them protection against asthma and wheeze.

In addition, children whose mothers have asthma are more than eight times as likely to have asthma if they have been breastfed, but only if they tested positive for atopy.

No such effects were seen in children whose mothers were not asthmatic, or in children with asthmatic mothers but who were themselves not atopic, according to research by Dr. Anne Wright and colleagues at the Respiratory Sciences Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.

Dr. Wright and colleagues make it clear that "even if the relationship between breastfeeding and asthma in children of asthmatic mothers is substantiated by other studies, the effects would need to be weighed against the many other health benefits associated with breastfeeding, including optimal nutrition, protection against infection, potential cognitive advantages, and maternal health."

As it is unknown whether a child will become atopic until well past the time that infant feeding choices are made, they add, "there is no need to reconsider current recommendations that infants be exclusively breastfed for six months."


So it would seem that the authors of this study do not recommend weaning due to maternal asthma.  I think that more studies are needed before we can fully understand this issue.  Anyone who has dealt with allergies/asthma knows that it is endlessly complicated with final implications not being known until full adulthood and beyond.  You should try to get hold of the full study so the mom can share it with her physician who seems to have grasped only a small part of the findings.






Warmly,
Sharon Knorr, BSMT, ASCP, IBCLC
Newark, NY (near Rochester on Lake Ontario)
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