From a recent article on the BBC:
Babies born by Caesarean section are more prone to developing asthma, say Dutch researchers.
In a study of almost 3,000 children, birth by Caesarean was associated with a 80% increased risk of asthma by age eight compared with vaginal birth.
The association was even stronger in children whose parents had allergies, suggesting a genetic predisposition to the disease, it is reported in Thorax.
Previous research has linked Caesareans with the development of allergies.
In total, the team looked at 2,917 children, 247 of whom were born by caesarean.
Around 12% of the children were diagnosed with asthma for which they were treated with inhaled steroids by the time they were eight years old.
The researchers found that the 9% of children who had two allergic parents were almost three times more likely to be asthmatic by the time they were eight compared with children whose parents were not allergic.
Read the full article on BBC.com
