Nudging the bilirubin dial to protect against asthma development

Dogaru et al. respond to "Does breastfeeding protect against 'asthma'?".

We thank Michael Kramer for his insightful comments (1) on our systematic review and meta-analysis on breastfeeding and childhood asthma (2). Following a concise summary of our findings, he points out the high heterogeneity of the results and addresses issues that might explain this, namely the phenotypic variability of asthma, lack of objective measurements, variable degrees of measurement bia...

Does a higher number of siblings protect against the development of allergy and asthma? A review.

STUDY OBJECTIVE To review the "protective" effects of having a higher number of siblings for the risk of atopic eczema, asthma wheezing, hay fever, and allergic sensitisation. METHOD Review of the literature (Medline since 1965 and references). MAIN RESULTS 53 different studies were identified. For eczema, 9 of 11 studies reported an inverse relation with number of siblings; for asthma and ...

Does Helicobacter pylori protect against asthma and allergy?

Can multiple doses of BCG vaccine protect against asthma?

OBJECTIVE To compare BCG vaccination involving a single intradermal dose and that involving multiple doses, one given with the multiple puncture technique, in terms of the protective effect against the subsequent onset of asthma. METHODS A retrospective cohort study involving 2,311 individuals having received the BCG vaccine. The patients were classified according to the number of doses of BC...

Does Helicobacter pylori protect against asthma and allergy?

The microbes that persistently colonise their vertebrate hosts are not accidental. Although highly numerous and diverse, there is specificity by site and substantial conservation between individuals. The genus Helicobacter includes spiral, highly motile, urease-positive, Gram-negative bacteria that colonise the stomach in many mammals. Each mammal has one or more dominant Helicobacter species a...