For Sarah and her interest in asthma/breastfeeding:
I, too, am interested in any research that takes in all the variables. I
am a former breastfeeding mom of 4, grandmom of 4 , nurse and lactation
consultant. I breastfed my first child 32 years ago because information
was out there that said it prevented allergies and I had a ton of them.
I was plagued with eczema, mild hayfever and exercise induced asthma. As
we know, now, breastfeeding does not stop the genes for allergy from
being passed to the children, so 2 of my children have allergies. The
first has eczema (I started cows milk at age 4 months) and the last
child has asthma. It was moderately severe from age 6 to 14, but he
hasn't had an attack in 2 years. He was breastfed over 3 years and has
never been started on milk. I believe this study that links
breastfeeding with asthma has many flaws. I think many women plagued
with allergies (including asthma) have heard of the benefits of
breastfeeding and that they, in overwhelming numbers, have breastfed.
This doesn't negate the good things of breastfeeding. But as we have
known for years it doesn't PREVENT allergies, but postpones and
minimizes them. I don't think it encourages allergies the longer we
breastfeed, but that the women who have allergies breastfeed longer to
benefit their children. And they are benefited. But we need to remember
breastmilk is not a miracle fluid, it is simply a normal fluid, helping
the child grow to be what he was meant to be genetically - not anything
less. But that means, also, not anything more. Just the best he can be.
Sorry so wordy, but have pondered on this many years,
Cheryl Muller
Date: Mon, 9 Sep 2002 13:50:59 -0500
From: "Sarah Allmaras, SN" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Breastfeeding and Asthma
I am a nursing student at the University of North Dakota. Recently, I=
have been studying the topic of asthma. I am currently enrolled in a=
childbearing class, and I am interested in ascertaining if there is = a
relationship between asthma and breastfeeding. According to a study= by
Takemura, et. al (2001), it was found that breastfeeding in infan= cy
may be related to a higher incidence of asthma during pre-adolesce= nce.
The risk of breastfeeding for asthma was compared with that of a=
rtificial feeding. It was found that a significantly higher prevalenc= e
of asthma was found in children who had been breastfed. In another =
study by Dell & To (2001), it was found that the longer a child breas=
tfed the more protected they were against asthma and wheezing. This s=
tudy examined children exclusively two years of age and younger. Anot=
her study which was conducted by Oddy, Holt, Sly, & Read in 1999 look=
ed at children up to six years of age. This report stated that feedin= g
a child only breastmilk at lea.
I have searched the archives and read the past posts related to this =
topic. I am still curious to hear from mothers who have asthma and ha=
ve or have not breastfed their children. I would like to know if the =
children of these mothers do or do not have asthma. I am also interes=
ted to know if anyone has any new information on research reports tha= t
were not discussed in the archives.=20
Dell, S., & To, T. (2001). Breastfeeding and asthma in young children= .
The Archives of Pediatric=20
and Adolescent Medicine, 155, 1261-1265.=20
Oddy, W., Holt, P., Sly, P., & Read, A. (1999). Association between b=
reastfeeding and asthma in=20
six year old children: Findings of a prospective birth cohort st=
udy. British Medical Journal, 319, 815- 819. Retrived September 3=
, 2002, from CINHAL database.=20
Takemura, Y., Sakurai, Y., Honjo, S., Kusakari, A., Hara, T., Gibo, M=
., et. al (2001). Relation between=20
breastfeeding and the prevalence of asthma. American Journal of =
Epidemiology, 154,
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