In a recent study published by the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, preliminary findings by Dr. Theresa Guilbert of the University of Wisconsin and colleagues found that breast-feeding for more than four months helped improve lung function in children whose mothers did not have asthma.

The study, carried out at the Arizona Respiratory Center, analyzed data resulting from following 1,256 healthy infants through adolescence -- 697 had lung function tests from the ages of 11 to 16 that evaluated air flow and lung volume. Breast-fed children with non-asthmatic mothers had better lung volume and no decrease in air flow. But breast-fed children whose mothers had asthma did not benefit and actually showed a significant drop in lung function later in life. The reason, Dr. Guilbert believes may be that breast milk could contain certain factors that promote lung development that may be impaired in mothers with asthma. The researchers warned that the results were preliminary and the findings needed more study.

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