Anti Matters
A team of researchers with Scotland's University of Aberdeen reports that antioxidant consumption during pregnancy may affect the child's risk of wheeze and eczema in early childhood. The study had 2,000 women detail their diets during pregnancy and measured their blood antioxidant levels. As published in the January 15, 2005 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, “Antioxidant Intake in Pregnancy in Relation to Wheeze and Eczema in the First 2 Years of Life†details the results. While no association was noted in the children's first year, vitamin E intake during the pregnancy was “negatively associated with wheeze in the absence of a 'cold'… and, in children whose mothers were atopic, there was a negative association between maternal vitamin E intake and childhood eczema.†Further follow-ups will seek to determine if the supplementation during pregnancy is associated with asthma and atopic disease later in childhood. NS