including many substances that affect not only the body's
use of nutrients but also its immune capacity. Nutrition and
immunity are inextricably interwoven in either a healthy or
vicious cycle." by Maureen Minchin, "Breastfeeding Matters:
What we need to know about infant feeding" 1985
As we celebrate another World Breastfeeding Week, I thought I would dedicate my blog this week to discussing why breastfeeding is a health care decision and not a life-style choice. I feel a cold wind blowing at my back, listening to some younger women involved in breastfeeding advocacy who seem to have forgotten the reason for breastfeeding advocacy or for the existence of the WHO Code. We have a mountain of medical literature from the 1970's onward that shows the statistical differences in health between breastfeeding (particularly the practice of exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months--only breastmilk, no other liquids including water or solid foods) and infant formula feeding. My focus today will be on 3 patents/applications that are concerned with infant diarrhea and ways to treat it. Two of those patents use human milk components to treat infant diarrhea.
The first patent I saw that triggered my writings was the following patent filed in 1995. It was called, "Anti-diarrheic product and method of treating rotavirus-associated infection, patent #5505955 owned by Senomed Inc., Cancer Research Fund of Contra Costa, and John Hopkins University School of Medicine. The inventors are Jerry A. Peterson, Robert H. Yolken and David S. Newburg. Both Yolken and Newburg have had funding at various times from Mead Johnson. The patent states the belief that gastroenteritis and diarrhea are linked to rotavirus infection. They will be using human milk fat globule to treat this problem. The patent states,
"In the US, over 200,000 children under 5 years of age are
hospitalized each year with acute diarrheal disease. This results
in nearly 880,000 in-patient hospital days, over 500 deaths, and
almost one billion dollars of in-patient costs per year."
And they go on to state,
"More recently, studies of children living in developing as well as
developed countries such as Great Britain and the U.S. have shown
that breastfed infants undergo fewer episodes of gastroenteritis than
bottlefed infants."
I discovered a patent application filed in 2006 regarding ORS (Oral Rehydration Solutions) entitled, "Oral Formulations for enteric disorders and/or rehydration." The inventors are Frank E Hagie, et al. (all are or have been employed by Ventria Bioscience). They will be using recombinantly-produced (genetically engineered) human milk proteins to prevent diarrhea and its recurrence. These inventors state,
"Breast-fed children have a lower incidence of diarrhea, as well
as other infections. Breast milk contains a number of innate
anti-microbial proteins that may play a role in the reduction of
diarrhea and in the promotion of colonization of the good intestinal
tract with health or commensal microflora that act as a deterrent
to ongoing and future diarrhea episodes."
The following patent, entitled, "Use of probiotics and fibers for diarrhea," owned by N.V Nutricia (infant formula company in the Netherlands)and filed in 2008.
This patent will use Lactobacillus rhamnosus (a probiotic derived from the human gut or urine), inulin, and soy polysaccharides to treat diarrhea. The infant formula industry does recognize the seriousness of infant diarrhea and many infant formula companies have created products specifically designed to treat infant diarrhea.
"Diarrhoea is a serious public health problem, a significant
contributor to malnutrition and associated with one-fourth of
all deaths in children less than 5 years, especially infants, in
developing countries. Each year diarrhoea causes more than
1 billion episodes of illness, with a global average of 3 episodes per
child and nearly 5 million deaths worldwide."
UNICEF more recently wrote the following in regard to breastfeeding and infant morbidity and mortality.
"The potential impact of optimal breastfeeding practices is
especially important in developing country situations with a
high burden of disease and low access to clean water and
sanitation. But non-breastfed children in industralized countries
are also at greater risk of dying--a recent study of post-neonatal
mortality in the United States found a 25% increase in mortality
among non-breastfed infants. In the UK Milennium Cohort Survey
six months of exclusive breastfeeding was associated with a 53%
decrease in hospital admissions for diarrhoea and a 27% decrease
in respiratory infections."
http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/index_24824.html
So for approximately 20-40 years, researchers and various institutions have recognized the association between diarrhea and how an infant is fed. Infant diarrhea can cause hospitalizations for dehydration and is known to cause death. Infant formula has a high solute load in comparison to breastmilk and thus contributes to rapid dehydration in the infant. Should we not inform the public of this risk? Is there a principle of the right to informed consent? Breastfeeding, particularly exclusive breastfeeding, saves infant lives. Denial of the risks, serves no purpose other than to keep the public misinformed and under the illusion that infant feeding is a balanced choice.
Copyright 2014 Valerie W. McClain
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