atopy

Breastfeeding Linked to Increased Risk of Atopy and Asthma

This is one of those articles that the media will love to use to try to scare the heck out of mothers. However, much like the vitamin C research that shows an increase in DNA damage (further delving revealed that vitamin C also protects against more severe and damaging types of DNA damage…) one study does not set the standard in stone. While I can’t think of a rationale as to why the use of a therapy deemed highly beneficial would show a negative relationship. It would be interesting to evaluate the diets of the mothers for potential allergens that the infant would be exposed to…

57th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Dr. Malcolm R. Sears from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada and colleagues assessed the impact of breastfeeding on the development of atopy and asthma by comparing data on 504 subjects who were breastfed for at least 4 weeks with data on 533 subjects who were not. Skin testing at age 13 revealed that breastfed subjects were significantly more likely than their counterparts to have a positive reaction to cat, dust mite, or any tested allergen. In fact, this effect was evident on repeat testing at age 21 years. In addition, breastfed subjects were more than twice as likely as their cohorts to have been diagnosed with asthma by 9 years of age. The effects of breastfeeding seen at 13 years of age were independent of maternal or paternal history of atopic disease, first born or non-first born status, and gender, the researchers note. However, at age 21 years the effects were most evident and significant in male subjects. “The majority of review papers and advice given says breastfeeding is good because it reduces your risk of developing allergy and asthma,” Dr. Sears told Reuters Health. “However, the evidence is mixed and our study, which analyzes a New Zealand cohort, found just the opposite effect,” he said. “Our study differs from previous studies in that the prior studies were short term and often looked at early childhood wheezing which often is not allergic-based,” Dr. Sears pointed out. “We know that breastfeeding reduces the likelihood of infection; therefore it may have improved the outcome for infection-based wheezing,” he explained.