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Breast-Feeding May Protect Against Celiac Disease

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) May 10 - Continuing to breast-feed infants while
introducing them to certain foods may cut their risk of developing celiac
disease, new study findings suggest. While the cause of celiac disease
remains unclear, lead author Anneli Ivarsson, of Umea University in Sweden,
and colleagues point out that the dietary patterns of infants might influence
the body's immune response, resulting in tolerance or intolerance of a
particular food. To investigate, the team of researchers evaluated
breast-feeding patterns and the way food was introduced to 627 children with
celiac disease and 1254 healthy children. "A major finding of this study was
the lower risk of celiac disease in infants who were still being breast-fed
than in infants who had discontinued breast-feeding at the time when
gluten-containing foods were introduced into the diet," Dr. Ivarsson and
colleagues write in the May issue of the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition. According to the report, the risk of celiac disease was reduced by
about 40% in children 2 years of age or younger if they were still being
breast-fed when dietary gluten was introduced. "This effect was even more
pronounced in infants who continued to be breast-fed after dietary gluten was
introduced," the authors state. Moreover, the risk for celiac disease
appeared to be greater when gluten-based foods were introduced into an
infant's diet in large amounts, they add. "It is tempting to speculate that
this dietary pattern also reduces the lifetime risk of celiac disease;
however, further studies are needed to confirm this notion," Dr. Ivarsson's
team concludes. Am J Clin Nutr 2002;75:914-921.

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