Mothers who drink probiotics reduce baby's eczema risk

Probiotic foods contain bacteria that are supposed to be "friendly". Now a new Norwegian study has found that mothers who regularly drink a probiotic supplement during and after pregnancy reduce their babies' chances of getting eczema.

In the study pregnant women were give a daily glass of probiotic milk from the 36th week of pregnancy through to 3 months after birth. When compared to a control group of mothers who were given a dummy supplement, the use of the probiotic reduced the incidence of eczema in the babies by 40% up to the age of two.

All of the women in the study were chosen because they planned to breast feed their children, and the scientists believe that the effect of the probiotic was provided to the children via their mothers' breast milk.

"In Norway, there has been some scepticism about giving infants probiotics. Therefore, it is preferable that mothers take probiotics, not children. We believe that probiotic bacteria affects breast milk composition in a positive way," said researcher Christian Kvikne Dotterud.

"The taste of both products was similar, and the milk was delivered in unmarked milk cartons. This means that neither the participants in the study or the researchers knew who had received probiotic milk or placebo milk," said Torbjørn Øien, one of the scientists involved in the study.

"We can therefore say with great certainty that it was the probiotic bacteria alone that caused the difference in the incidence of eczema between the two groups."

Not only did the supplement reduce the number of cases of eczema, but in those children who did develop it, it was less severe. Although the children were also tested for asthma and other allergies, the use of the probiotic was found to have no benefit in these cases. However the researchers plan a follow-up study when the children are 6 years old to see if there has been any beneficial effect.

This new study, published in the British Journal of Dermatology, follows on from previous studies which have suggested that taking probiotics can have a preventative effect on eczema. This is the first time that the effect has been found when only the mother takes the supplement.

This article was published on Wed 21 July 2010