Cows milk increases risk of developing diabetes in babies

ISLAMABAD: Does feeding an infant formula made with cow’s milk increase their risk of developing type 1 diabetes? And if so, does breastfeeding protect at-risk infants against the disease?

Years of research have identified the potential link between cow’s milk and type 1 diabetes, but not all experts are convinced. So, the debate continues.

A new study of more than 200 newborns at-risk for type 1 diabetes suggests that feeding an infant formula made with cow’s milk may up their chances of developing the disease.

After breastfeeding, the babies were fed a formula made either with or without cow’s milk. Those fed the formula made without cow’s milk were about 50% less likely to develop proteins that are associated with type 1 diabetes.

Thus, Akerblom postulates, cow’s milk may cause diabetes in genetically at-risk kids. However, other studies have found that infants fed cow’s milk are no more likely to develop the disease than infants who are breastfed.

"The studies are a mixed bag," says Alan Greene, MD, assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine, and founder of drgreene.com, a children’s health website for parents.

"Clearly the answer is not in, but if there is someone with type 1 in the immediate family, I recommend breastfeeding for as long as possible -- at least one year -- or to avoid cow’s milk formula for the first six to eight months," he said.

Exactly what causes type 1 diabetes is not fully understood, but genes and early diet may play a role. Type 1 diabetes is less common in people who were breastfed and in those who first ate solid foods at later ages. One study showed that drinking about three glasses of cow’s milk per day upped type 1 diabetes risk among children with siblings who have type 1 diabetes.

Some proteins in cow’s milk may induce the immune system to attack insulin-producing cells.

"The studies are split," says John Buse, MD, the director of the Diabetes Care Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "I think breast feeding ... may also be good for reducing diabetes risk."

Breastfed babies may have higher IQs and stronger immune systems than babies fed with formula. Previous research suggests that breastfeeding during a baby’s first year may help lower the risk of gastrointestinal, or GI, tract infections, which affect the stomach and intestines, and atopic eczema, a common skin condition that affects around 10% of all infants and children.

Source: http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?194472

A call for tolerance of public breastfeeding

Every year approximately 482 women in Vermont are diagnosed with breast cancer and approximately 92 die from it.

It is not well known now that, since at least the 1600s, breast cancer was known as "the nun's disease." It was once common knowledge that this type of cancer typically occurred in women who didn't experience pregnancy and lactation. One healthy choice women can make to reduce their risk of breast cancer is to nurse their children. By following the World Health Organization's recommendation of nursing each child for at least two years, women can substantially reduce their risk, as well as their nursling's risk, of breast cancer. Breastfeeding also reduces the mother's risk of other life-threatening health problems such as diabetes, cervical and ovarian cancers.

There are two things that society in general can do to help reduce the incidence of breast cancer. The first is to provide a clean, private place for mothers who work to pump their milk. A mother who is separated from her baby must pump her milk on a regular basis to maintain her supply. A restroom is not an appropriate place to produce and package baby food nor is it an appropriate place to feed a baby.

The second thing we can all do is to be tolerant and supportive of mothers nursing in public. Nursing is different from formula feeding; it is normal for babies to nurse more frequently than once every four hours. When they go through a growth spurt they might nurse every hour, this builds up mom's supply and the baby has the extra milk needed for rapid growth. This is why it is extremely difficult for a mother to simply plan when she'll nurse and make sure she is out of the public's eye when it happens, or to pump ahead of time and only bottle feed in public.

As to offering the mother a blanket or napkin to cover up with -- we can trust that every mother knows best how to meet her child's needs. Many babies simply refuse to nurse with a blanket over their head. Breast cancer touches us all; everyone knows someone who has struggled with it. Let's all do what we can to reduce and eliminate breast cancer.

By Laura McCormick. Laura McCormick lives in Shelburne.
Source: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071111/OPINION/711110323/1006

Does Breastfeeding Raise IQ? Nursing Mom's Now Have Another Reason to Breastfeed

If you ask a nursing mother why she chooses to nurse, you're likely to hear "because it's good for my baby." Among the other benefits, there is already a known link between a child having a slightly higher IQ and being breastfed. In a recent press release, researchers announced that they have determined that this is related to a particular gene that the baby has.

Researchers at King's College4 in London found a link between the gene that is responsible for this increase and breastfeeding. They were able to determine that the gene, FADS2, helps in the conversion of dietary fatty acids.

This study was conducted before these fatty acids were added to infant formula. Researchers believe that it is important for the psychiatric community to understand that our genes likely have a role in both intelligence and depression. They acknowledge that intelligence is based upon a combination of both nurture and nature, and not either of these exclusive of the other.

Dietary fatty acids are converted into the polyunsaturated fatty acids AA (arachidonic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). During the first months after an infant is born, these two polyunsaturated fatty acids accumulate in an infant's brain.

Over 90 percent of the children involved in the study had a particular type of the FADS2 gene. When the infants had a copy of the "C" version of this gene and were breast-fed, they obtained a higher IQ.

Children who had the "G" version of the FADS2 gene did not show either a disadvantage or advantage in their IQ when breast-fed.

While many infant formula makers began adding both the DHA and AA fatty acids to their formulas, researchers have said that whether or not DHA and AA in formula remains to be seen.

There have been studies where primates and rodents were fed formula that contained both DHA and AA. The animals involved in these studies have shown enhanced intellectual abilities, and have had increased concentrations of DHA in their brains.

"Our findings support the idea that the nutritional content of breast milk accounts for the differences seen in human IQ. But it's not a simple all-or-none connection: it depends to some extent on the genetic makeup of each infant," said Terrie Moffitt, a professor of psychological and brain sciences in Duke University's Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy.

These findings were based upon the results of an intensive research study that involved over 3,000 children in both New Zealand and Britain.

Source: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/443355/does_breastfeeding_raise_iq.html