There have been a number of posts recents about BF and allergies,
so I thought you might find this interesting.  I was just handed a
recent article from the Lancet on this topic:

     Saarinen UM, Kajosaari M.  Breastfeeding as prophylaxis
     against atopic disease: prospective follow-up study until 17
     years old.  Lancet 1995; 346:1065-69.

The last paragraph reads, "We conclude that breastfeeding is
prophylactic against atopic disease, the effect extending into
early adulthood.  Breastfeeding for longer than 1 month without
other milk supplements offers significant prophylaxis against food
allergy at 3 years of age, and also against respiratory allergy at
17 years of age.  Six months of breastfeeding is required to
prevent eczema during the first 3 years, and possibly also to
prevent substantial atopy in adolescence."

The article also that the differences by infant feeding method were
so pronounced that it "suggested an influence of early milk feeding
that may exceed the heredity burden."

I'm no-mail at the moment (APHA next week), so I'm not likely to
see your responses to this.

Cindy Visness, Family Health International
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