Sunday August 13, 2006
An allergy-free start
WHEN Viennese paediatrician Baron Clemens von Pirquet first coined the word “allergy” way back in 1906, little did he suspect that allergy would one day be a worldwide problem. A hundred years later, allergy is marching through many nations, inflicting misery on millions and robbing them of a quality life. Why is this happening? Can we stop this scourge?
Ignorance is, perhaps, fuelling the steady rise in allergy. And to the second question, yes, we can do something to halt the allergy march. For a start, let’s burst the ignorance bubble.
It looks like it was no coincidence that the Baron was searching for a medical term to describe his young patients’ problems. Studies thereafter have shown that about 60% of all allergies appear during the first years of life*1, with food allergies being the earliest manifestations *2.
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Leave highly allergenic foods like shellfish and peanuts until baby is at least a year old. |
To complicate matters, food is not the only environmental factor that causes allergies. We have other allergens, or allergy-causing substances, such as house dust mites, pollen, air pollutants, animal dander, moulds and chemical irritants.
Seriously, everyone should be committed towards curbing allergies which may bring minor symptoms such as sneezing, coughing, hives or more serious conditions like diarrhoea, vomiting, asthma attacks and the life-threatening anaphylaxis.
Furthermore, allergies impact our life in many ways – from restricting our diet to dictating the types of activities we can engage in; from affecting our performance in school and at work to eroding our self-esteem and down to narrowing our choices of vacation and vocation.
So, knowing that infants and young children are early targets for allergies, our strategy is to give these little ones protection right from the start. As food allergy is the starting point that leads to other allergies, it is only logical that we nip the problem here.
The safest first food for an infant is his mother’s milk. Breast milk has many merits that make it the best for protection against allergies. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) has advised mothers to exclusively breastfeed their infants for at least the first six months of life. Let’s see how breast milk guards infants from allergies:
1. Breast milk does not cause allergies in babies. Nevertheless, nursing mothers are advised to abstain from highly allergenic foods because some babies may react adversely towards proteins from these foods which find their way into the milk.
2. Colostrum or early breast milk enhances the development of immune functions*5.
3. Breast milk promotes the growth of the friendly bacteria, bifidobacteria, in the intestine that protect against infections and allergies.
4. Breast milk is rich in “good” fats like DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), which help to protect against allergies.
5. Breast milk also supplies immunonutrients, for instance nucleotides, which improve intestinal health and immune response.
Weaning or the introduction of solid foods to babies is another area of concern. To prevent allergies, delay weaning until baby is six months old. Introduce new foods to baby one at a time for easy detection of adverse reactions. Leave highly allergenic foods like shellfish and peanuts until baby is at least a year old.
Now, let’s move on to the major non-food allergens. These are omnipresent! The air we breathe contains dust, pollen, spores from moulds and tobacco smoke, among others. We share our beds, pillows, upholstered furniture and soft toys with millions of allergy-causing house dust mites. Various materials, synthetic or natural, and chemicals in household goods can give rise to contact allergies. Examples are nickel in buttons, latex in gloves and toys, leather in boots and shoes, fragrance in toiletries, cosmetics and fabric softeners as well as chemical irritants in paints, insecticides, waxes, glue and detergents.
Try applying these tips to make your home a safer place for your kids to grow in:
Although genetics have a lot to do with the risk for developing allergies, environmental factors which include food, act as triggers. So, if we cannot alter the genes, let’s make changes in the environment to give our kids an allergy-free start in life.
References:
1. Liptay et al. Natural history of atopic disease in early childhood: is cord blood IgE a prognostic factor: Clin Pediatr 1992;4:241-6.
2. Exl BM, Fritsche R. Cow’s milk protein allergy and possible means for its prevention. Nutrition 2001;17;642-651.
3. Eigenmann PA et al. Food hypersensitivities, Annales Nestle 19999;57;57-67
4. Baumgartner, Brown, Exl et al. “Controlled trials investigating the use of one partially hydrolysed whey formula for dietary prevention of atopic manifestations until 60 months of age: An overview using meta-analytical techniques”. Nutrition Research, 1998;18:1425-1442.
5. Renz H, Brehler c, Petzoldt s, Prinz H, Rieger CH. Breast feeding modifies production of SigA cow’s milk antibodies in infants. Acta Paediatr Scand 1991;80;149-54.
Note: This article is courtesy of Nestlé Nutrition and the Malaysian Society of Allergy and Immunology (MSAI) in conjunction with World Allergy Day 2006. To find out more about allergy, come to the MSAI public forum in Kuching Hilton on Sept 3, 2006 and Renaissance Hotel KL on Sept 17, 2006. Admission is free.
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