Long-term exclusive breastfeeding protects against childhood asthma: Study

USA: Longer duration of exclusive breastfeeding have a protective association with child asthma, showed cohort study results published in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Postnatal exposures, including breastfeeding, may influence asthma development.

Human breast milk is known to have many beneficial health effects including plausible protection against Asthma, as it is known to decrease allergic sensitization and/or modulate the infant's immune system. Morbidity of childhood asthma accounts for up to 50% of asthma emergency visits. Although much progress has been made in terms of control of asthma, there is still no cure for asthma and little is known about how to prevent it. Over the years, it has become evident that factors in early life, play important role in a child's susceptibility to developing asthma.

Keadrea Wilson, pediatrician, at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, and colleagues studied 2,021 mother-child dyads in the ECHO PATHWAYS consortium of prospective pregnancy cohorts (GAPPS, CANDLE, TIDES) to investigate the association between breastfeeding duration and child asthma. Authors developed questionnaires asking mothers about durations of any and exclusive breastfeeding.

 Researchers also considered current wheeze, ever asthma, current asthma, and strict current asthma in their outcomes. They used multivariable logistic regression to assess associations (odds ratios [OR] and 95% confidence intervals [95%CI]) between breastfeeding and asthma outcomes adjusting for potential confounders. Effect modification was assessed by mode of delivery, infant sex, and maternal asthma.

Among women, 33%, 13%, 9%, and 45% reported 0<2, 2-4, 5-6, and >6 months of any breastfeeding, respectively,

Following are the observations from the study,

• 16% of the children had current wheeze, 12% had ever asthma, 12% had current asthma and 9% had strict current asthma.

• There found to be a duration-dependent protective association between exclusive breastfeeding and child asthma outcomes

• For exclusive breastfeeding, protective associations were stronger in dyads with children born by vaginal versus cesarean delivery although interactions were not significant.

The researchers called their findings evidence of protective associations between exclusive breastfeeding continued for longer durations and child asthma outcomes, although when considering the duration of any breastfeeding, there was no strong association between subsequent development of wheeze or asthma apart from ever asthma.

The author of the report, Keadrea Wilson, commented," These results extend the understanding of the association between breastfeeding and respiratory health."

For further information please refer -- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anai.2022.04.034 Published: May 09, 2022