Professor Syed Hasan Arshad and colleages from the David Hide Asthma and Allergy Centre, Isle of Wight, England have been tracking 120 children from families in which two or more members had an allergy, since 1990.

Fifty eight infants avoided dairy products, soy and nuts for their first year of life, were giv en vinyl mattresses and covers and had the level of dust mite in their homes reduced by the use of acracide; the mothers of  62 infants did not avoid any foods or attempt to reduce dust mite exposure.

In an 18 year follow up study it was found that at one, two, four and eight years old, there was a consistent reduction in allergic reactions in those children in the prevention group. And at 18 years significantly fewer teenagers suffered from allergic asthma than in the control group.

Although this study is small it the researchers believe that it may be possible to prevent the onset of asthma in high-risk individuals by instituting a strict regime that avoids some of the common triggers for asthma in the first year of life and that the benefit will last for many years.

The European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Courtesy of Medical News Today

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