Breast milk 'may protect against asthma'
29 January 2008

A study may have discovered why breastfeeding might help protect children against allergies such as asthma.

The French research, published in Nature Medicine, shows female mice exposed to allergens can pass them directly to their offspring in milk.

This allows the newborns to become ‘tolerant’ of the substance.

However, Sally Rose, asthma nurse specialist at Asthma UK, stressed that in humans the link between breastfeeding and reduced asthma risk remains unproven.

‘While some research does suggest that breastfeeding may help reduce the chance of babies developing allergic conditions such as asthma, there are other studies that contradict this,’ she said.

‘Because breastfeeding provides many proven benefits for babies, current advice from the Department of Health, which Asthma UK supports, is that where possible, babies should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life.’