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. 2018 Mar;73(3):279-282.
doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2017-210031. Epub 2017 Jul 8.

Raw milk consumption and other early-life farm exposures and adult pulmonary function in the Agricultural Lung Health Study

Annah B Wyss  1 , John S House  2   3 , Jane A Hoppin  4 , Marie Richards  5 , John L Hankinson  6 , Stuart Long  5 , Paul K Henneberger  7 , Laura E Beane Freeman  8 , Dale P Sandler  1 , Elizabeth Long O'Connell  9 , Christie Barker Cummings  9 , David M Umbach  10 , Stephanie J London  1   2
Affiliations

Raw milk consumption and other early-life farm exposures and adult pulmonary function in the Agricultural Lung Health Study

Annah B Wyss et al. Thorax. 2018 Mar.

Abstract

Literature suggests that early exposure to the farming environment protects against atopy and asthma; few studies have examined pulmonary function. We evaluated associations between early-life farming exposures and pulmonary function in 3061 adults (mean age=63) from a US farming population using linear regression. Childhood raw milk consumption was associated with higher FEV1 (β=49.5 mL, 95% CI 2.8 to 96.1 mL, p=0.04) and FVC (β=66.2 mL, 95% CI 13.2 to 119.1 mL, p=0.01). We did not find appreciable associations with other early-life farming exposures. We report a novel association between raw milk consumption and higher pulmonary function that lasts into older adulthood.

Keywords: Allergic lung disease; Asthma Epidemiology; COPD epidemiology; Occupational Lung Disease; Respiratory Measurement.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

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