Foliumzuur en bepaalde voeding tijdens de zwangerschap en astma*
Uit twee studies blijkt dat foliumzuur en bepaalde voedingsgewoontes tijdens de
zwangerschap de kans op allergieën en astma bij de nakomelingen duidelijk kunnen verhogen. Uit de Noorse studie onder een kleine twee duizend zwangere vrouwen blijkt dat extra foliumzuur vanaf de vierde maand in de zwangerschap de kans op astma bij het kind op 3 jarige leeftijd duidelijk doet verhogen. Het lijkt zelfs dat hoe meer foliumzuur hoe meer kans op astma bij de nakomelingen. Uit de Australische studie blijkt dat de nakomelingen van zwangere vrouwen, met al een kind dat een voedselallergie heeft, die vanaf de zevende maand in de zwangerschap en tot een jaar daarna bepaalde voeding vermijden de kans op een allergie en astma duidelijk minder is. Speciaal werd gekeken naar het vermijden van noten en in mindere mate naar melk en eieren. Nakomelingen werden ingedeeld in twee groepen, de vermijdgroep van moeders die die voeding zo veel mogelijk hadden vermeden en de controlegroep van moeders die hun voeding niet gewijzigd hadden. De nakomelingen werden bij 18 en 36 maanden gecontroleerd op allergieën. 16% van de kinderen uit de vermijdgroep waren gevoelig voor pinda’s tegen 52% in de controlegroep. Voor eieren was dat resp. 34 tegen 75%. 11% van de kinderen in de vermijdgroep had symptomen van astma tegen 43% in de controlegroep.
Can Folate And Food Allergen Intake During Pregnancy Put Your Child At Risk For Allergies Or Asthma?
It has long been known that the choices you make during pregnancy can have a lasting impact, but new research shows that certain behaviors could influence whether your child will develop food allergies or
asthma.
In two studies unveiled at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI), researchers examined the relationship between folate levels in pregnancy and the risk of having an asthmatic child, along with the effectiveness of avoiding food allergens during pregnancy in high risk families.
Folate Levels
The one study found that children born to mothers with mothers with higher folate levels during pregnancy had an increased risk of asthma at age 3.
Taking their sample from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study, researchers measured folate levels during the second trimester of pregnancy in the plasma of 507 mothers of children with asthma at age 3. Researchers also measured folate levels in 1,455 mothers of controls.
"Norway provides an excellent opportunity to address the question of possible deleterious consequences of high folate intake during pregnancy because the food supply is not fortified," explained Stephanie J. London, MD, DrPH, one of the study authors.
Children born to mothers who had plasma folate levels in the top 20% had an increased risk of asthma at age 3 in comparison to those mothers who had the lowest levels. The researchers also found a trend of linear increase, meaning that when looking across the sample, as the mother's plasma folate level increased so did the risk of asthma in the
child.
"These findings based on an objective marker of folate status and follow-up to age 3 extend our previous research based on reported supplement use and outcomes to 18 months. The next step is to follow-up these children to an age when asthma can be more reliably diagnosed," added London.
Food Allergens
In the other study, researchers at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Australia looked at how effective it was for pregnant mothers of food allergic children to follow dietary and environmental avoidance measures in an effort to prevent their subsequent children from developing food
allergies.
"The avoidance advice encompassed the third trimester of pregnancy, during breast feeding and into the second year of life. Particular emphasis was placed on nut avoidance and to a lesser extent egg and milk," said Velencia Soutter, MD, lead author of the
study.
The siblings of 274 cases were evaluated for symptoms of allergic disease and given a skin prick test to measure allergen sensitization at 18 and 36 months. The siblings were placed in an 'avoidance' or 'no avoidance' group depending on whether their mother chose to follow the dietary advice.
Those in the avoidance group had a significantly lower occurrence of peanut and egg sensitization at both 18 and 36 months. At 36 months, peanut sensitization was only present in 16% of the siblings in the avoidance group, compared with 52% in the no avoidance group. At that same age, egg sensitization was present in 34% in the avoidance group versus 75% in the no avoidance
group.
In addition, siblings in the avoidance group were less likely to develop symptoms of asthma at both ages. Only 11% in the avoidance group had developed asthma symptoms at 36 months, while 43% in the no avoidance group did.
"Early allergen avoidance can prevent the development of food allergies and may have an impact on later development of allergic disease," commented Soutter.
Rates of dust mite sensitization and eczema were lower in the avoidance group at 18 months, but were not significantly different among the two groups at 36 months.
Source
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (Mei 2010)
