Breast-feeding boosts lung power

Tuesday November 11th, 2008

Babies who are breast-fed for at least four months develop healthier lungs, British researchers reported yesterday.

The new study links suggests one way that breast-feeding may help reduce the impact of asthma.

Researchers studied some 1,500 children on the Isle of Wight, UK, testing their lungs at the age of ten.

They found that those who had been breast-fed were much more likely than others to have strong lungs than others.

Having asthma or allergy in the family made no difference to the findings, the researchers report in the journal Thorax.

Researcher Dr Syed Arshad, of the The David Hide Asthma and Allergy Research Centre, St Mary's Hospital, Newport, Isle of Wight, said chemicals in breast milk might explain the findings.

Another possibility is that the physical effort of breast-feeding - compared with drinking from a bottle - might help strengthen the lungs.

The researchers write: "The duration of exercise a baby gets breastfeeding is almost twice as long as that for a bottle feed, and bottle feeding also induces a higher rate of swallowing, more interrupted breathing, and requires less lung power."

A second study in the same journal claims that poverty and social deprivation goes so far as altering the genes for asthma.

Canadian researchers studied the genes of 31 children diagnosed with asthma, half from wealthy backgrounds and half from poor homes.

They found that poor children had over-active immune system genes - whilst the wealthy children showed signs that the immune system was better controlled.

They write: "The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the larger social environment can get 'under the skin at the genomic level."

Thorax Online First 2008; doi 10.1136/thx.2008.101543, 2008 doi 10.1136/thx.2007.095091

Tags: Allergies & Asthma | Child Health | Childbirth and Pregnancy | UK News | Women’s Health & Gynaecology

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