According to a new study out of the United Kingdom, first-born babies carry a higher risk for developing both asthma and allergies. Why? Well, it seems conditions in the mother's womb the first time around tend to be different than they are for succeeding pregnancies.

Apparently. birth order affects several immune markers, which leads to immune system development issues that persist as long as until age 10 years. Wow! That's pretty intriguing, isn't it?

Here are the study highlights:

• 1,200 newborns form the Isle of Wight were studied
• Cord blood IgE was sampled (IgE is an indicator of allergic disease)
• Skin prick tests were conducted at ages four and 10
• In first-borns, a specific gene variant was linked to a higher risk of having increased cord-blood IgE
• The higher risk persisted in first-born children at both age 4 and age 10; other ages did not have the same results

Researchers stated that this study suggests that if prenatal priming (setting up the gene changes that increase allergic risk) could be changed during a first pregnancy, the risk of asthma in those newborns might be able to be reduced by as much as 20 to 30 percent. Interesting concept, but I suspect there's a long way to go before we get there.

Learn More:

• Kids & Asthma
• Allergic Asthma
• Asthma Risk Factors