Exclusive breastfeeding for four months protects against psoriasis development through early adulthood: Study

The prospective longitudinal birth cohort study from Sweden revealed an association between longer breastfeeding duration and a lowered risk of psoriasis development in early adulthood.

"Babies introduced to infant formula before the age of 4 months were almost twice as likely to develop psoriasis later in life," the researchers reported. " Also, earlier consumption of larger amounts of dairy milk was also associated with an increased psoriasis risk."

Psoriasis is a genetically determined systemic skin disease, although environmental trigger factors are needed for disease manifestation Some of these triggers, such as infections, stress, and drug exposure, have been identified. Johnny Ludvigsson, Linköping University, Linkoping, Sweden, and colleagues aimed to explore the role of early nutrition as a risk factor for psoriasis development.

Parents in the ABIS (All Babies in Southeast Sweden) (n= 16145) prospective birth cohort were included. They answered questionnaires at birth and by the child’s age of 1 and 3 years. Psoriasis diagnosis was received from the Swedish National Patient Register and National Drug Prescription Register. Custom-written R scripts were used for conducting statistical analyses.

The study led to the following findings:

• Individuals breastfed for less than four months and receiving infant formula before four months were associated with a higher risk of psoriasis (OR 1.84 and OR 1.88, respectively).
• At the 3-year follow-up, the increased fish consumption, especially from the Baltic Sea, increased the risk of psoriasis (OR9.61).
• The risk of psoriasis increased following large milk consumption (OR2.53).

"Our study underscores, for the first time, the effect of very early nutrition on the manifestation of psoriasis through early adulthood. Exclusive breastfeeding for four months seems protective," the researchers wrote.

Reference:

Das, D., Thimjo, J., Lebena, A., Guo, A., Enerbäck, C., & Ludvigsson, J. Breast-feeding decreases the risk of developing psoriasis through early adulthood. British Journal of Dermatology. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjd/ljae043