Washington, July 15 (IANS) Research shows that mothers who feed their babies cow’s milk in the first 15 days after birth may be protecting them from dangerous allergies later on.
The new research from Tel Aviv University changes the earlier perception that cow’s milk should be avoided in the early months of an infant’s feeding.
Yitzhak Katz, paediatrics professor at the Tel Aviv University, said: ‘Women who regularly introduced their babies to cow milk early, almost completely eliminated the incidence of allergy to cow milk.’
In the longest and largest prospective study of its kind, researchers looked at the feeding history of 13,019 infants, reports the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Children who were given an infant formula containing cow’s milk protein in the first 15 days of life were almost completely protected from developing Cows Milk Protein Allergy (CMA).
In fact, they were 19 times more protected than babies fed on cow’s milk after 15 days, said a Tel Aviv release.
CMA can be dangerous for babies as it leads to rashes, respiratory problems, shock and even death. So this boost to the immune system early in life acts as a ‘vaccination’, the study said.
