Cows' milk allergy

A majority of mothers in the developed world have chosen to replace the nutritive material that had evolved for the species by milk naturally intended for a quadruped. It is remarkable that infants totally nourished by cows' milk cannot usually be distinguished, either in growth or in biochemical profile, from those who have been exclusively breast fed in the first months of life. Certainly there are less overt benefits that can be demonstrated. Breast fed infants have significantly less gastrointestinal infection than those given formulae and they also obtain a degree of protection against respiratory disease [1]. The extent to which breast feeding offers protection against the development of allergic disease remains a matter of debate eventhough the subject has been investigated almost to the point of tedium. Sauls pointed out that direct comparisons between breast and bottle fed infants are likely to be Hawed as there are so many confounding variables between groups of mothers in the western world who choose the two methods of feeding [2]. However, whole population studies have not been able to demonstrate less allergy in breast fed infants even when all confounding factors are included in the analysis [3]. Nevertheless, there is evidence that exclusive breast feeding may diminish, or at least postpone, manifestations of allergy in high-risk infants [4,5].