Preventing allergies - any reliable evidence?

Hi,

I'm in my second trimester, and still sorting through the evidence on
how to reduce baby's risk of allergies. Atopy runs in our family. My
husband is moderately allergic to pollen and dander; I have one known
food allergy, and minor skin and inhalant allergies. Nothing
anaphylactic; just a big inconvenience, which we'd like to avoid or
minimize for our child.

Here's a list of the advice I've found so far. An asterisk means that
I'm following it, or plan to do so when applicable. (This doesn't
necessarily mean that I'm convinced that it helps to prevent allergies;
many of these are things I'd do anyway.)

Note: "Common allergenic foods" would include cow's milk, wheat &
gluten, egg whites, soy, corn, peanuts, and fish.

------------

Pregnancy:

* Mom includes probiotic foods and Omega-3 fats in her diet.

* Mom avoids exposure to known allergens.

Mom avoids other common allergenic foods.

* Support mom's immune system through prayer, positive attitude, etc.

--------------

Postnatal (Feeding):

* Breastfeed for at least a year.

* Breastfeed exclusively for 4+ months.

* Mom includes probiotics and Omega-3's in her diet while breastfeeding.

* Mom avoids exposure to known allergens while breastfeeding.

Mom avoids other common allergenic foods while breastfeeding.

* Wait until 1+ years to introduce foods that mom is allergic to.

* Wait until recommended age to introduce other common allergenic foods.

--------------

Postnatal (other):

* Minimize dust in baby's room (vacuum often, run a HEPA filter).

* Have a dog or cat in the house.

* Make sure baby gets exposed to fresh air, trees, sunshine, etc.

-----------------

Here's a summary of the latest evidence and controversies, according to
Medline (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/medline.html)

Probiotics and Omega-3's: Controlled studies suggest that they do help
prevent allergies. There doesn't seem to be a down side. They're
already a part of the traditional diets of just about every culture, and
their health benefits for children and adults are well-established.

Avoiding early exposure to airborne allergens: Is it better to keep
babies away from dust, pollen, etc.? Or are the recent increases in
allergies caused by *too much* cleanliness? The jury is still out.

Avoiding early exposure to food allergens: This helps prevent allergies
to these foods in infancy -- which makes sense, since the infant isn't
eating them yet. But does it lower the *eventual* allergy rates, in
childhood and adulthood? Or does delaying the introduction of the food
just delay the allergy? Again, the evidence isn't clear.

Breast vs. formula: I thought this was straightforward, but now there
are some Japanese studies that show BF children having *more* asthma and
eczema than FF children! %-o Since there are many studies that show
the opposite, I'm just going to assume that it's due to some peculiar
Japanese factor. I'd certainly be interested to hear the explanation,
when our scientist friends figure it out.

----------------

If anyone knows of any other reliable evidence regarding this topic
(preferably not anecdotal; I've seen plenty of that already :-) ), I'd
be very happy to hear it!


- EJA

Elizabeth A wrote:

Postnatal (other):
* Minimize dust in baby's room (vacuum often, run a HEPA filter).
* Have a dog or cat in the house.
Have pets in CLOSE contact with kid ... "in the house" is not
enough if you sanitize the environs and never let the kid and the
pets swap dander and bacteria.

* Make sure baby gets exposed to fresh air, trees, sunshine, etc.

Make sure baby gets exposed to abundant quantities of REAL DIRT
as often as possible! Real cow poop, gardens fertilized with
manure, barns and corrals, and all that fun stuff. Real
intestinal parasites and varied intestinal flora from real
animals.

The evidence that too much "hygiene" creates allergies is gaining
ground ... a study done in Saudi Arabia between "city" kids (born
and raised in urban areas) and their "country cousins" (close
relatives who still lived in rural villages or were nomadic much
of the year) showed that the children who had the greatest amount
of exposure to animals, manure, and other "real dirt" sources had
the fewest allergies.

Breast vs. formula: I thought this was straightforward, but now there
are some Japanese studies that show BF children having *more* asthma and
eczema than FF children! %-o Since there are many studies that show
the opposite, I'm just going to assume that it's due to some peculiar
Japanese factor.

The peculiarly Japanese factor is that they are germ-o-phobic to
an astounding degree ...

Tsu

--
To doubt everything or to believe everything
are two equally convenient solutions; both
dispense with the necessity of reflection.
- Jules Henri Poincaré