�An increasing number of studies feature shown a reduced risk of
allergies, hay pyrexia, asthma and eczema in farmers' children and
adolescents. Until latterly it was believed that these protective
effects primarily arise from exposures during the beginning years of life.
Jeroen Douwes (Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand) and
colleagues examined the effects of current, early and antepartum
farming exposures in children from farms, and in a rural non-farming
reference population. For this use they surveyed 1,333 farmers'
children and 566 reference children aged 5-17 years.
The authors confirm that symptoms and eczema are less common in
farmers' children. More importantly, they show that maternal exposure
during pregnancy to animals and/or grain and hay powerfully reduces the
risk of asthma symptoms, hay fever and eczema.
This risk of exposure is even further decreased when children are also currently
exposed. In fact, when children are exposed both in utero and later
in life, asthma, hay pyrexia and eczema are decreased by more than than 50%.
Thus, prenatal exposure contributes to the low prevalence of asthma,
hay fever and eczema in farmers' children, but continued exposure is
required to maintain optimum protection.
These findings suggest that to prevent allergic diseases, such as
asthma, hay fever and eczema, measures should be taken ahead birth
and may bear to be continued passim life.
Title Of The Original Article
Farm exposure in utero may protect against asthma, hay fever and eczema
The European Respiratory Journal is the peer-reviewed scientific publication of the European Respiratory Society (more than 8,000 specialists in lung diseases and respiratory medicine in Europe, the
United States and Australia).
European Respiratory Journal
The European Respiratory Society (ERS)
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