Breast milk improves lung function

Breastfeeding with positive effect on lung function

06.02.2012

Breastfeeding improves the lung function of the offspring. As part of a study for the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), researchers at the University of Bern found that breastmilk significantly improves lung function both in the children of asthmatics and in the offspring of mothers without respiratory ailments.

In view of the positive results of the research, the Swiss researchers emphasized once again that breastfeeding was to be recommended to all women, also from the point of view of lung function in the offspring. With their results, the scientists led by study leader Claudia Kühni of the Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM) of the University of Bern refuted the statements of a previous study from the US, according to which the breastfeeding of children by asthmatic mothers in the offspring caused an increased risk of asthma. This assumption is now fundamentally to be revised, because apparently the opposite is the case, write the Swiss researchers. Breastfeeding asthmatic mothers also show clear positive effects on children's lung function, according to the ISPM.

Pulmonary function in nearly 1,500 children examined
According to the Swiss scientists, breastfeeding has „numerous benefits for infants, mothers and society.“ So far „the effects of breastfeeding on respiratory health“ however, relatively unclear - especially in mothers with asthma, report Claudia Kühni and colleagues. Although the protective effect of breastfeeding against respiratory infections was clear, but the relationship with the subsequent lung function in the offspring has been scientifically controversial, the researchers explain in the publication of their findings on the subject portal „American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine“. In close collaboration with scientists from the University of Leicester, Claudia Kühni and her team analyzed the relationship between breastfeeding and lung function in a sample of 1,458 children from the so-called Leicestershire cohort studies. In addition to the duration of breastfeeding, all respiratory symptoms (respiratory symptoms) were taken into account by repeated interviews and pulmonary function tests in schoolchildren at the age of 12 years.

Positive effects of breastfeeding on lung function
The results of the SNF study were clear: on average, the children of mothers with asthma had lower lung volumes than those of healthy mothers. However, when the babies were breastfed for four months or more, the values ​​of the children of asthmatic mothers approximated those of healthy mothers, Claudia Kühni and colleagues report. For all children - regardless of maternal asthma - the exhalation flows were better if they were breastfed for a period of four months or more, the Swiss researchers continued. Breast milk obviously has a positive influence on the patency of the respiratory tract, although it has not yet been conclusively clarified how it will develop, write the Swiss scientists. According to the researchers, their current results also provide evidence that, in addition to a preventive effect of breastfeeding against respiratory infections, asthma and allergies, breast milk also „a direct effect on lung growth“ Has. This assumption must now be examined in further studies, so Claudia Kühni and colleagues. However, according to the researchers, breast-feeding continues to be highly recommended for all infants, including those whose mothers have asthma, given the current study results. (Fp)

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Picture: Manuel Bendig