Sociable Children Protected From Leukaemia
Sociable Children Protected From Leukaemia
Researchers have found further evidence that children who often mix with other children are at a lower risk of leukaemia.
A team from the University of California, Berkeley, USA, analysed the results of 14 studies including 6,108 children with leukemia and 13,704 unaffected children.
Children who attended day care or playgroups seemed to have approximately a 30 per cent lower risk of developing the most common type of childhood leukemia - acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Of the 14 studies, 12 indicated a protective effect of social interaction, whereas the remaining two found no link.
This work supports the theory that children exposed to more infections early in life develop an enhanced protection against ALL. This may be because the immune system must be challenged in early life in order to develop normally. If not, an infection in later years, alongside a genetic predisposition, may trigger ALL.
The latest findings were presented yesterday (April 29) at the "Causes and Prevention of Childhood Leukaemia" conference held in London, UK, by the charity Children with Leukaemia.
Researcher Dr Patricia Buffler said: "Combining the results from these studies together provided us with more confidence that the protective effect is real. Analysing the evidence in this way gives a more reliable answer to the question and a more precise estimate of the magnitude of the effect."
Dr Adrienne Morgan of the charity also investigated the theory. She said: "Putting our review together with the new analysis on social interaction, we can say pretty confidently that childcare, breastfeeding and vaccination are good things. This gives a steer to the biologists looking for what mechanisms might be at play."
Work presented at the second Children with Leukaemia Causes and Prevention of Childhood Leukaemia Conference, held at the Institute of Child Health, London, UK on April 29-30.
Last Updated: 01/05/2008 - 12:00 AM
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