THERE may be one more culprit to add to the long list of
possible reasons for the rise in asthma and other allergies:
birth by Caesarean section. A study of 865 babies found that the
147 born by Caesarean suffered more digestive problems, and
nearly twice as many developed food intolerances - both signs of
inappropriate immune reactions ( "There may be long-term risks
of Caesareans we've not considered before," says team member
Sibylle Koletzko of the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich,
Germany. "I would discourage it for all non-medical reasons."
The explanation might be that babies born by Caesarean do not
get a chance to swallow beneficial bacteria during birth;
colonisation of the gut plays a key role in the development ...
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