Effect of maternal dietary exclusion on breast fed infants with eczema: two controlled studies.

Abstract

Thirty seven breast fed infants with eczema were studied to see whether changes in their mothers' diets affected their skin condition. Nineteen mothers and babies took part in a double blind crossover trial of exclusion of egg and cows' milk, and 18 took part in open exclusion of 11 foods followed by double blind challenge to those mothers whose infants seemed to respond. Babies were examined at the beginning and end of each dietary period, and the extent and severity of the rash were given a numerical score. The eczema improved in six infants when their mothers avoided egg and cows' milk and worsened again when these were reintroduced. Two infants suffered gastrointestinal reactions after maternal ingestion of egg and cows' milk, one developing colitis.Maternal dietary exclusion seems to benefit some breast fed babies with eczema.

Does maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation affect outcomes in offspring? A systematic review of food-based approaches

“…Three papers [43][44][45] considered manipulating the maternal diet to manage existing eczema in breast-fed children, as opposed to the effects of the maternal diet on preventing eczema.…”

“…In a cross-over RCT, Cant et al [43] studied the effect of maternal exclusion of cow's milk, egg, chocolate, wheat, nuts, fish, beef, chicken, citrus fruits, artificial food colourings and preservatives during lactation compared with periods of inclusion of cow's milk and eggs on eczema scores in children with eczema aged 6 weeks to 6 months. At each time point, there were no significant differences in eczema scores.…”

Diagnosing and Managing Common Food Allergies

“…Twenty of the included RCTs were evaluated in 1 or more of these systematic reviews and were not analyzed further. [64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83] Two publications 84,85 reporting information on the same population were excluded because they did not report data comparing the intervention and control groups. We also excluded studies by Chandra et al 65 , given published reports that question the validity of those data.…”

Assessment of Allergenic Activity of a Heat-Coagulated Ovalbumin afterin VivoDigestion

“…7,8) These food antigens found in breast milk include intact proteins and sometimes cause allergic reactions in exclusively breast-fed infants. 9) Husby et al found 10.5 mg OVA/ml in the sera from seven of eight healthy adults 2-3 h after ingestion of 60 ml raw egg and 500 ml milk. 10) These reports suggest that the intestinal barrier was permeable to macromolecules.…”