PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Taking probiotics in pregnancy or giving them to infants doesn't prevent asthma

2013-12-06
(Press-News.org) Contact information: Raquel Maurier
rmaurier@ualberta.ca
780-492-5986
University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
Taking probiotics in pregnancy or giving them to infants doesn't prevent asthma Taking probiotics has health benefits but preventing childhood asthma isn't one of them, shows newly published research led by medical scientists at the University of Alberta. Meghan Azad, a Banting post-doctoral fellow in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the U of A, was the principal investigator on the findings that appeared in the British Medical Journal this week. Her team reviewed data from 20 clinical trials in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan that involved more than 4,800 children whose mothers either took probiotics during pregnancy or gave probiotics to their babies in the first year. The rate of doctor-diagnosed asthma was 11.2 per cent amoung infants who received probiotics and 10.2 per cent amoung babies who received the placebo. "Taking probiotics had no effect on the asthma rate," said Azad, who works in the Faculty's Department of Pediatrics. "We haven't shown there's any harm in giving probiotics, but it can't really be advised as a strategy to prevent asthma. "That doesn't mean probiotics aren't good for other reasons. There's really good evidence that probiotics are beneficial to infants who are born pre-term and suffer from a bowel condition. There's also good evidence that probiotics might prevent eczema. Her team made another interesting finding that warrants more research: babies who received probiotics as infants or in utero had higher incidences of lower respiratory infections. "This study identified a potential association between probiotics and lower respiratory infections," said Azad. "But more research is required to see if the two are indeed linked." She thinks the topic of research was important because "it summarized an emerging area of research, and will help physicians make evidence-based decisions relating to childhood asthma prevention." Azad's team included U of A colleagues Anita Kozyrskyj with the Faculty's Department of Pediatrics and Catherine Field with the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences. Colleagues from the University of Manitoba included: Clare Ramsey, Allan Becker, Ahmed M Abou-Setta, Carol Friesen and Ryan Zarychanski. Azad is continuing her research in this general area, examining the use of antibiotics and how it impacts the microbiota of babies' guts.

### END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Counting the cost of infertility treatment

2013-12-06
Counting the cost of infertility treatment From drug therapy to IVF, out-of pocket costs can range from $900 to $19,000 per treatment cycle, report researchers in The Journal of Urology® New York, NY, December 6, 2013 – Although the demand for infertility treatment ...

Penn researcher traces the history of the American urban squirrel

2013-12-06
Penn researcher traces the history of the American urban squirrel Until recently, Etienne Benson, an assistant professor in the University of Pennsylvania's Department of History and Sociology of Science, has trained his academic eye on the history of ...

At AGU: Shale sequestration, water for energy & soil microbes

2013-12-06
At AGU: Shale sequestration, water for energy & soil microbes PNNL shares research at world's largest geophysical science meeting SAN FRANCISCO – Scientists from the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will present a variety ...

TSRI scientists: Emerging bird flu strain is still poorly adapted for infecting humans

2013-12-06
TSRI scientists: Emerging bird flu strain is still poorly adapted for infecting humans LA JOLLA, CA—December 5, 2013—Avian influenza virus H7N9, which killed several dozen people in China earlier this year, has not yet acquired the changes needed to infect humans ...

Single microRNA powers motor activity

2013-12-06
Single microRNA powers motor activity Findings have implications for treating severe treatment-refractory epilepsy, says Mount Sinai researcher New research from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai shows that microRNA-128 ...

Slippery fault unleashed destructive Tohoku-Oki earthquake and tsunami

2013-12-06
Slippery fault unleashed destructive Tohoku-Oki earthquake and tsunami First measurement of friction during an earthquake yields surprisingly low value For the first time, scientists have measured the frictional heat produced by the fault slip during ...

Malignant cells adopt a different pathway for genome duplication

2013-12-06
Malignant cells adopt a different pathway for genome duplication Researchers at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, discover how tumour cells solve the problems linked to the replication of their unstable DNA Genomes must be replicated in two copies ...

Resistant against the flu

2013-12-06
Resistant against the flu A genetic defect protects mice from infection with Influenza viruses This news release is available in German. A new study published in the scientific journal PLOS Pathogens points out that mice lacking ...

HIV can infect transplanted kidneys in HIV-positive recipients with undetectable virus

2013-12-06
HIV can infect transplanted kidneys in HIV-positive recipients with undetectable virus Findings help explain why HIV is a common cause of kidney failure Washington, DC (December 5, 2013) — HIV can infect transplanted kidneys in HIV-positive recipients even in the absence ...

Brain cancer cells hide while drugs seek

2013-12-06
Brain cancer cells hide while drugs seek Tumor cells temporarily lose mutation to evade drugs targeting mutation A team of scientists, led by principal investigator Paul S. Mischel, MD, a member of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and professor ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Public take the lead in discovery of new exploding star

What are they vaping? Study reveals alarming surge in adolescent vaping of THC, CBD, and synthetic cannabinoids

ECMWF - delivering forecasts over 10 times faster and cutting energy usage by 1000

Brazilian neuroscientist reveals how viral infections transform the brain through microscopic detective work

Turning social fragmentation into action through discovering relatedness

Cheese may really be giving you nightmares, scientists find

Study reveals most common medical emergencies in schools

Breathable yet protective: Next-gen medical textiles with micro/nano networks

Frequency-engineered MXene supercapacitors enable efficient pulse charging in TENG–SC hybrid systems

Developed an AI-based classification system for facial pigmented lesions

Achieving 20% efficiency in halogen-free organic solar cells via isomeric additive-mediated sequential processing

New book Terraglossia reclaims language, Country and culture

The most effective diabetes drugs don't reach enough patients yet

Breast cancer risk in younger women may be influenced by hormone therapy

Strategies for staying smoke-free after rehab

Commentary questions the potential benefit of levothyroxine treatment of mild hypothyroidism during pregnancy

Study projects over 14 million preventable deaths by 2030 if USAID defunding continues

New study reveals 33% gap in transplant access for UK’s poorest children

Dysregulated epigenetic memory in early embryos offers new clues to the inheritance of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

IVF and IUI pregnancy rates remain stable across Europe, despite an increasing uptake of single embryo transfer

It takes a village: Chimpanzee babies do better when their moms have social connections

From lab to market: how renewable polymers could transform medicine

Striking increase in obesity observed among youth between 2011 and 2023

No evidence that medications trigger microscopic colitis in older adults

NYUAD researchers find link between brain growth and mental health disorders

Aging-related inflammation is not universal across human populations, new study finds

University of Oregon to create national children’s mental health center with $11 million federal grant

Rare achievement: UTA undergrad publishes research

Fact or fiction? The ADHD info dilemma

Genetic ancestry linked to risk of severe dengue

[Press-News.org] Taking probiotics in pregnancy or giving them to infants doesn't prevent asthma