Asthma treatment

The chance of a person developing asthma by the age of 50 is
increased 10 times if there is a first-degree relative with asthma.
The risk is greater the more severe the relative’s asthma is. It
has been suggested that breastfeeding may reduce the risk of
a child developing atopic conditions such as asthma because
it restricts the exposure to ingested foreign protein in the first
few months of life. Conflicting studies have been published and
it may require considerable dietary restriction by the mother
to avoid passing the antigen on to the child during this vulnerable
period. Overall, although infant wheezing may be less
common in breastfed infants, there is no good evidence to show
that asthma is less prevalent in breastfed children. Nevertheless,
many other benefits of breastfeeding indicate that it should be
encouraged.

Maternal smoking in pregnancy interferes with lung function development
and increases the risk of childhood wheezing; exposure
during the first few years of life is also detrimental. It is not clear
that allergic conditions are increased. Studies of paternal smoking
have shown less certain trends in the same direction.