Breast-Feeding and Its Role in Early Development of the Immune System in Infants: Consequences for Health Later in Life
Abstrak
Respiratory tract infections and
gastrointestinal tract infections of both bacterial and viral origin
cause the highest mortality
and morbidity in neonates and infants. This is true
not only for developing countries but also for industrialized countries .
Increased susceptibility to infections and decreased immune
responsiveness to these infectious agents continue to be present
significantly in y 2 of life. However, it should be
realized that the induction of an immune response against nonharmful
common
environmental antigens, such as food antigens and
particular commensals (bacteria), has to be inhibited lest it give rise
to undesirable, excessive, and destructive
inflammatory and allergic reactions (.
It appears that the development of the immune system in neonates and
young infants is reflected in the enhancement of “specific”
immune responses to danger signals and in the
induction of tolerance toward common nonharmful environmental antigens
such
as food components as well as the microbiota of the
infant gut. It should be realized that the human immune system can be
modulated easily during the first months of life , when it can be affected not only positively but, unfortunately, also negatively. This dichotomy is illustrated by, e.g.,
survival advantage after surgery early in life and survival postsurgery health consequences later on .
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