Trainee Meghan Azad publishes on probiotics and childhood asthma in BMJ

AllerGen trainee and Banting Postdoctoral Fellow Meghan Azad (University of Alberta) is lead author on an article that concludes there is insufficient evidence to recommend probiotic supplementation for the prevention of childhood asthma and wheeze.

Published in the December 2013 issue of BMJ, the article “Probiotic supplementation during pregnancy or infancy for the prevention of asthma and wheeze: systematic review and meta-analysis” investigates the relationship between the use of probiotic supplements during pregnancy or the first year of an infant’s life and the development of childhood asthma and wheeze. Having found no evidence of a protective association, the authors conclude that, based on current knowledge, “probiotics cannot be recommended for primary prevention of childhood asthma or wheeze.” Co-authors include AllerGen investigators Dr. Allan Becker (University of Manitoba) and Dr. Anita Kozyrskyj (University of Alberta).