While the general definition of asthma is simple, its fundamental causes are still being debated in the medical community. However, some contributing factors are known. Asthma can be inherited and exposures to allergens early in life are believed to put a child at risk. Mothers who smoke during pregnancy increase the odds of delivering an asthmatic child.
Adding to the complex mystery of the disease is a study published by American Thoracic Society in the November issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, which questions the positive effects of breast-feeding for babies of asthmatic mothers.
“Longer breast-feeding in infancy is associated with improved lung function in later childhood, with minimal effects on airflow in children of non-asthmatic mothers,” wrote Dr. Theresa Guilbert of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Arizona Respiratory Center at the University of Arizona in Tucson. “However, longer breast-feeding in children of a mother with asthma demonstrates no improved lung growth and significant decrease in airflows later in life.”