Wednesday, January 05, 2005

Breastfeeding Rates Need Improvement
Too Few Babies Breastfed at 6 and 12 Months, CDC Reports
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD
on Wednesday, January 05, 2005
"Breastfeeding infants well into their first few months of life is too rare in the U.S., particularly among blacks and socially disadvantaged groups. The news comes from a CDC report that shows breastfeeding rates fall short of national goals. It's not that breastfeeding is uncommon. More than 70% of American babies have been breastfed at some point. That's close to the target set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The department's goal is to have at least 75% of mothers breastfeed their babies in the early postpartum period. The HHS also wants to have at least 50% of mothers continue breastfeeding until their babies are 5 to 6 months old...."
Vanguard Online Edition : EDUCATION: Let the milk of human kindness flow that our children may live(3)
EDUCATION: Let the milk of human kindness flow that our children may live(3)
"By ADENIKE O. GRANGE
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Being the text of an inaugural lecture delivered by Prof. Adenike Grange of the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Wenesday, Dec. 1, 2004. Grange is also president of the International Paediatrics Association. The second instalment taken last week specifically addressed protein-energy malnutrition in children, and ended with a treatment of nutrients in human milk, with an explanation of degradation in quantity as the infant grows. READ ON.
Non-nutritional Factors in Breast Milk
Human milk contains many non-nutritional substances such as hormones and growth factors. Hormones in human milk include cortisol, somatostatin thyroid hormones, oxytocin, and prolactin. Growth factors include epidermal growth factor, insulin, and lactoferrin. Other substances such as long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids may relate to growth. In addition, human milk contains others factors that are inducers of certain biological processes, MS. The Significance of these hormones and factors for growth patterns, however, is not understood. Breast-fed infants have lower plasma concentrations of insulin than formula-fed infants, which might result in less fat deposition and fewer adipocytes developing. The other bioactive factors that are present in breast milk might modulate growth factors that are known to inhabit adipocyte differentiation...."

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

WSJ.com - Mothers Who Share Breast Milk
As of Tuesday, January 4, 2005 
By SARA SCHAEFER MUÑOZ
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
January 4, 2005; Page D1
"Amid mounting evidence of the health benefits of breast-feeding for infants, a movement is quietly growing among parents: sharing or even selling breast milk. The idea is to provide milk for adoptive mothers and women who cannot nurse because of illness or some other reason. Instead of turning solely to infant formula to feed their children, these women are tapping into informal networks of friends, acquaintances and in some cases strangers found on the Internet. While there are milk banks where parents can purchase donated breast milk that has been pasteurized and screened for disease, infants who are very sick and cannot nurse get priority. In addition, banks require a doctor's prescription, and the milk can be very expensive -- about $100 a day...."

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

MercuryNews.com | 12/28/2004 | Mothers' milk may hold promise for ill adults
SOME FIND BENEFITS FOR CANCER, OTHER SERIOUS DISEASES
By Barbara Feder Ostrov, Mercury News
"Breast milk isn't just for babies at the Mothers' Milk Bank in San Jose, which quietly offers it to adults with cancer and other serious illnesses to ease their symptoms. The milk bank is one of just six in the United States. It distributes donated breast milk primarily to premature and low-birth-weight babies. However, it also will provide breast milk to adults with a doctor's prescription. Adult use of breast milk is rare, according to Pauline Sakamoto of the milk bank in San Jose, which has served 28 adult patients in the past four years. Adults with cancer, digestive disorders and immune disorders may drink several ounces of milk daily or weekly to ease the ravages of chemotherapy, bolster their immune systems and improve their digestion, she said. No national figures exist for adult use of breast milk, but an informal survey of the nation's milk banks suggest that they currently serve dozens of adult patients...."