Doctors have proposed a new way to assess the risk of developing allergies
Topics: Children, Research
As Medical Express notes, a child's first stool (meconium) can tell a lot about his health. In particular, the analysis of the contents of the diaper will allow you to understand whether the child will develop allergies in the first year of life. The University of British Columbia found that newborns who developed allergic sensitization by one year of age had significantly less meconium at birth, which is distinguished by a rich composition.
Meconium, which is usually excreted during the first day of life, is made up of various elements that enter and exit the baby's body during development, starting with skin cells, amniotic fluid and various metabolites. It contains all kinds of molecules that a baby encounters in the womb.
Analysis of meconium samples from 100 babies showed that the fewer different types of molecules contained in baby meconium, the higher the risk of developing allergies in a child by one year. The scientists also found that the decrease in the number of certain molecules was associated with changes in key bacterial groups in the microflora. These groups of bacteria play a critical role in the development and maturation of the vast ecosystem of intestinal bacteria.
Using a machine learning algorithm, the researchers combined information about meconium, bacteria and clinical data to predict with a high degree of accuracy (76%) whether a child will develop allergies.
