Supplements, nutrients and anti-acid medications
In a recent review, Venter et al.40 highlighted the
potential roles of fatty acid metabolism in biological mechanisms, human
epidemiology, and intervention studies. The impact of genetics and the
microbial dysbiosis on fatty acid metabolism are discussed briefly. The
authors suggest focusing on to the choice of the formats (i.e., food
versus supplement) and standardized doses in clinical studies which will
make easier to investigate their roles in the prevention and treatment
of allergies and asthma. EAACI‘s position paper recommending a diverse
diet for the infants and consensus-based definitions, which is a benefit
for further studies.41 A study from Korea found that
consumption of fast food was related to asthma incidence in adolescents
but not in adults, whereas instant noodles had more impact in adults
than in adolescents. No relation was found between asthma and the intake
of vegetables and fruits, which might be confounded by the generally
high intake of healthy food by Koreans as background
nutrition.42
Another supplement, which was evaluated as an early prevention strategy
for asthma is vitamin D. Vitamin D supplementation remains as a
controversial issue, because of several recently published negative
studies. Vitamin D supplementation of pregnant mothers did not reduce
the incidence of asthma in children at 6 years of age. However, it might
provide benefits by reducing the preschool wheezing
episodes.43,44 A prospective study with
maternal-infant cohort showed that during the 2 and 5 years of
observation, there is no association between vitamin D exposure
antenatal or after birth and the progression of allergic
disease.45 In addition, antenatal supplementation with
vitamin D did not prevent the development of asthma or recurrent wheeze.
Earlier results by the same group suggested that antenatal vitamin D
lowers the risk of the offspring developing asthma by 3 years of age,
however, these effects were lost by age 6.44
Tomita et al46 suggested a relationship between the
use of acid‐suppressive medications, such as histamine 2 receptor
antagonists and proton pump inhibitors, and the occurrence of
adult‐onset asthma.