Fish in children's diet cuts eczema risk

Fish in children's diet cuts eczema risk: study - Yahoo! News:
2008.09.24
"Feeding babies as little as one portion of fish before they are nine months old may cut their risk of developing eczema, Swedish researchers said on Thursday...Introducing fish of any type into the diet curbed the risk of contracting the skin condition by 25 percent compared with children who never ate it..."There was no link with the amount of fish or type of fish. We think it is more the timing of the introduction."..."It must have something to do with its influence on the developing immune system,"..."

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Postponing cow's milk may not prevent allergy - might make things worse

Postponing cow's milk may not prevent allergy - Yahoo! News:
2008.07.08
"Tests showed that delaying the introduction of cow's milk products beyond 9 months significantly increased the risk of eczema, a chronic skin condition characterized by dry patches of very itchy skin...Delayed introduction of other food products for more than 7 months also markedly increased the risk of eczema as well as the risk of atopic dermatitis and recurrent wheeze."

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Tired of Allergies? Try Yogurt - probiotics

ABC News: Tired of Allergies? Try Yogurt:
2008.04.25
"Exposing pregnant mothers and infants to probiotic bacteria could help stimulate the growth of the immune system and potentially play a role in preventing allergies...levels of key proteins associated with tissue inflammation were 50% higher on average in the blood of probiotic-treated infants than in the blood of placebo-treated infants. Inflammation is thought to stimulate the immune system, and so reduce allergic reaction. Probiotic children were also 30% less likely than their untreated counterparts to develop an itchy skin condition known as atopic eczema, which is often an early manifestation of allergies... "It seems clear that we need to stimulate the infant's immune system as early and as vigorously as is safe, for inflammation seems to go hand in hand with allergy prevention," says Errki Savilahti"...The findings support the idea that allergies have increased, at least partially, thanks to the deficit of bacteria in modern living. Historically, food was loaded with bacteria and caused chronic immune responses that resulted in inflammation, says paediatric immunologist Anthony Horner at the University of California at San Diego...In the absence of such heavy bacterial exposure, the immune system is much less active than it should be and this leads to malfunction and can lead too allergies. "These probiotics are probably closely mimicking the effects of regularly eating unpasteurised and unsterilised food,"..."Even if someone has the genes for allergies, these results suggest that people can take action to at least reduce the chances of developing early allergic conditions like eczema,..."

Hygiene hypothesis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Latest research on probiotics:

Probiotics Affect Metabolism, Says New Study: "ScienceDaily (Jan. 16, 2008) — Probiotics, such as yogurt drinks containing live bacteria, have a tangible effect on the metabolism, according to the results of a new study published January 15 in the journal Molecular Systems Biology."
Probiotic Good Bugs May Control Gut Infections: "ScienceDaily (Sep. 8, 2007) — Probiotics, the friendly bacteria beloved of yoghurt advertisers, may be an effective substitute for growth promoting antibiotics in pigs, giving us safer pork products, according to scientists.*"
Probiotic Cuts Respiratory Illness Rates In Endurance Athletes, Study Suggests: "ScienceDaily (Feb. 20, 2008) — The probiotic Lactobacillus substantially cuts the rate and length of respiratory illness in professional long distance runners, reveals a small study. Intensive exercise can subdue the normal immune response, and as a result, some athletes are vulnerable to respiratory viruses, such as colds and flu."
Despite Claims, Not All Probiotics Can Treat Diarrhea Say Experts: "Researchers at the University of Naples tested five different preparations in 571 children with acute diarrhoea. All the children were aged 3-36 months and were visiting a family paediatrician with acute diarrhoea. Children were randomly assigned to receive either a specific probiotic product for five days (intervention groups) or oral rehydration solution (control group)."
Infants With Poor Intestinal Flora Often Develop Eczema


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Pre- and probiotics show promise against childhood eczema - review

Pre- and probiotics show promise against childhood eczema - review - NutraIngredients.com
2007.10.18
"... the probiotic strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and the prebiotics galacto- and fructo-oligosaccharides showed benefits for a range of allergic diseases..."Studies using Lactobacillus rhamnosus showed some benefit in preventing the onset of eczema," said Sinn. "However, the benefits were not shown in other common allergic symptoms such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, food hypersensitivity and food allergy."..."In the studies that analyzed allergy as an outcome, the galactose oligosaccharide was made from lactose and the fructose oligosaccharide was made from chicory root [an herb], all of which are natural substances," ...there was insufficient evidence to support the addition of prebiotics to infants' milk or formula to prevent allergies..."

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U.S. breast feeding rates raise

U.S. breast-feeding rates rise to record high Reuters/Yahoo!News 8/2/07 "...The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 74 percent of American women who gave birth in 2004 breast-fed their babies for at least some period of time...The CDC report found that among infants born in 2004, the rate of exclusive breast-feeding through the first three months after birth was 31 percent, shy of the government's goal of 60 percent, and through six months was 11 percent, below the government target of 25 percent...The report detailed racial and socioeconomic disparities among women who provide their babies exclusively breast milk in these first months, with black, teen-age, rural, less-educated, lower-income and unmarried mothers less likely to do so...The 2004 breast-feeding rate of 74 percent was the highest since such statistics were first kept for U.S. women in the 1950s, Philip said. The lowest rate on record was in 1971, when only 25 percent of mothers breast-fed their infants ...The CDC noted that breast-feeding is associated with decreased risk for many diseases and conditions, including ear infections, respiratory tract infections, sudden infant death syndrome, obesity, eczema and diarrhea...It also is associated with health benefits to women, CDC said, including decreased risk for the most common form of diabetes, ovarian cancer and breast cancer. "Something I think a lot of people may not realize is that there are benefits to the mother as well as the child," Philip said"

An encouraging trend, but not nearly as eye popping at the story would at first present. 31% isn't much for 3 months and 11% is pathetic for 6 months. So it's a victory, although a rather shallow one.

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