Medical News Summary: Breastfeeding may delay onset of food allergies
About: Breastfeeding may delay onset of food allergies
Date: 10 January 2005
Source: About
Author: Judy Tidwell
Medical News Summary (summary of medical news story as reported by About): Allergies are often hereditary with 30-50% of children developing an allergy if one parent has an allergy and 60-80% developing an allergy if both parents have one. Exclusive breastfeeding of infants for the first 6 to 12 months can allow time for the child’s immune system to develop and hence they may delay food allergies. Exposure to allergens early in life can trigger an immune response. Colostrum, the milk secreted by the mother in the first few days after birth, contains lots of proteins and antibodies which help support the infant’s immune system. Breast feeding can also decrease the chance of developing asthma and eczema. However, some babies may react to foods consumed by the mother that come through the milk. These reactions may present as colic, restless sleep, frequent colds, eczema and skin rashes. Milk is the most common food consumed by the mother that may affect the baby.
URL: http://allergies.about.com/cs/breastfeeding/a/aa073100a.htm
Related Disease Topics: Allergy, Food allergy, Eczema, Asthma, Colic, Skin rash
Related Medical News Channels: This medical news summary article refers to the following medical channel categories:
- cause of allergy
- cause of food allergy
- cause of eczema
- cause of asthma
- cause of colic
- cause of skin rash
- risk and allergy
- risk and food allergy
- risk and eczema
- risk and asthma
- risk and colic
- risk and skin rash
- Diet
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