Lowering the Risk of Asthma and Allergy

College of DuPage Nursing Student  Cuirong Jevne shared that nowadays, the number of people getting asthma and allergies has been rising drastically. Allergic rhinitis (hay fever), food allergies, and eczema are common for all age groups in the United States. According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma Immunology asthma affects more than 24 million people in the U.S., including more than 6 million children. Allergies are the 6th leading cause of chronic illness in the U.S., with an annual cost in excess of $18 billion. More than 50 million Americans suffer from allergies each year. ¹

Breast milk is easy for infants to digest and the safest source of food for babies. It is a good way to boost an infant’s immune system, as infants get all their antibodies from their mother through breastfeeding. Mothers who breastfeed their children for more than 6 months will directly reduce the chance for their baby to get asthma and allergies. Studies have shown that breastfeeding may not protect children against asthma, but data does show that it supports the development of their immune and respiratory systems.²   In this way, breastfeeding does reduce the risk of infection which can trigger asthma symptoms.

When we talk about bacteria, fear often shows on our faces. There is a study which shows that exposure to bacteria is another way to lower the risk of developing asthma and allergies. ² When infants are exposed to bacteria they will train their immune system to attack bad bacteria and ignore harmless things like pollen and cat dander. There is a study shown that children exposed to a wider variety of bacteria, especially those in the Bacteroides and Firmicutes groups, were less likely to develop allergies or asthma. ³ Children exposed to both did the best of all.

Reducing the usage of lawn products and pesticides will help you to reduce the risk of getting asthma and allergies. It is not a pleasant experience during the spring and summer when you go outside and you smell the chemical spray on the lawn. It makes you cough when you smell the chemicals in pesticides and weed killers. Studies have long theorized that exposure to irritants or chemicals could alter a child’s developing immune and respiratory systems, which will increase the chance of developing asthma and allergies.⁵

1. https://acaai.org/news/facts-statistics/allergies

2. https://blogs.biomedcentral.com/bmcseriesblog/2018/08/31/benefits-of-breastfeeding-lowering-the-prevalence-of-asthma-in-children-at-high-risk/
3. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/06/06/319420973/early-exposure-to-bacteria-protects-children-from-asthma-and-allergies
4. https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/consumers-biologics/asthma-hygiene-hypothesis

5. https://asthma.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/asthma_pesticides_eng.pdf