The Beneficial Effect of Farm Milk Consumption on Asthma, Allergies, and Infections: From Meta-Analysis of Evidence to Clinical Trial

Brick, Tabea
Hettinga, Kasper
Kirchner, Benedikt
Pfaffl, Michael W.
Ege, Markus Johannes

Open link

Publication date

January 2020

DOI

10.1016/j.jaip.2019.11.017

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Abstract

The low prevalence of asthma and allergies in farm children has partially been ascribed to the consumption of raw cow's milk. A literature search identified 12 publications on 8 pertinent studies. A meta-analysis corroborated the protective effect of raw milk consumption early in life (<1 to 5 years, according to study) on asthma (odds ratio [OR], 0.58; 95% CI, 0.49-0.69), current wheeze (OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.55-0.78), hay fever or allergic rhinitis (OR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.57-0.82), and atopic sensitization (OR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.62-0.95). The effect particularly on asthma was observed not only in children raised on farms (OR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.58-0.82) but also in children living in rural areas but not on a farm (OR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.48-0.74). This...