Thursday, July 12, 2018

"Down the Rabbit-Hole" The USA and its fickle breastfeeding policy


                                            "CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER"
                                         Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll


We are down the rabbit-hole, living in Trumplandia, where what was up is now down and down is up.  We are Alice in Wonderland.  Our Heartless King rampages through an early morning; spreading his Story for the Day, only to retract the Story the next day, and then to retract the retraction.  Around and around we go, a merry-go-round that never stops.  The Queen in Silence does not care.  The Chessboard beckons the world of players.  The King, his Bishops, and Knights capture the Pawns.  Black against white, republican against democrat, and one nation against the world;  the strategy of never-ending chaos of words and wars.  And now the Jabberwocky King bestows his wisdom onto the world. America the Great "strongly supports breastfeeding" but (always a but with the word breastfeeding) "we don't believe women should be denied access to formula."  And in his wisedom adds,  "Many women need this option because of malnutrition and poverty."  Yes up is down and down is up.  The Jabberwocky King's wisedom in one twitterly-tweet. 

Does the Heartless King really care about women or children?  Or is it business as usual?  Patents and Trademarks hurrah-hurrah?  Capture the Pawns, silence them quick.  Cage them, deport them, and shut them up quick.  Up is down and down is up.

The Delegation parades onto the Chess Board, capturing the Castles. Baiting and bullying those who do not understand the game.  The Delegation has property to defend.  Companies must be fed.  Royalties must be paid.  

"One pill makes you larger
And one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you
Don't do anything at all
Go ask Alice
When she's ten feet tall."
--White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane

*******************PATENTS********************

"Consumption of human milk is one of the most cost-effective strategies known to medicine for protecting infants against morbidity and mortality due to infectious disease. Human milk may be considered a natural and efficacious "nutriceutical," i.e., a model food that conveys immunologic benefits. Protection against infectious diseases occurs through a variety of complementary mechanisms found in human milk, including oligosaccharides and their related glycoconjugates. Significantly enhanced immunologic protection by breastfeeding has been demonstrated for diarrheal diseases, respiratory tract illnesses, bacteremia, meningitis, and necrotizing enterocolitis. Protection by breastfeeding is especially efficacious against diarrheal disease." 
--Patent #7893041 entitled, "Oligosaccharide compositions and use thereof in the treatment of infection," filed in 2004, owned by Children's Hospital Medical Center (Cincinnati,Ohio), Instituto Nacional De Ciencias Medicas Y Nutricion (Mexico, Mx), and University of Massachusetts (Boston, Ma) 

"During postnatal development, a newborn's intestine experiences a process of maturation that ends with the production of gastrointestinal epithelium that functions as a selective barrier (i.e., gut barrier). The gastrointestinal epithelium permits the absorption of nutrients, electrolytes and water, while preventing exposure to dietary and microbial antigens, including food allergens. Specifically, this barrier limits the passage of antigens to the systemic circulation, thereby preventing infection, inflammatory reactions, and other gastrointestinal diseases and disorders that may occur during infancy and later in life. For very young infants, and particularly, preterm infants, who have an immature immune system and intestinal tract, development of suboptimal intestinal flora may result in infection, diarrhea, allergies, and food intolerance.

Barrier formation and maintenance has been found to be affected by the diet. Breast milk contains components that not only act as pathogen receptor analogues, but also activate immune factors by infant intestinal epithelial cells and/or associated immune cell populations to enhance development and maturation of the infant's gastrointestinal and immune systems." 

Patent #9539269, entitled, "Methods for decreasing the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis in infants, toddlers, or children using human milk oligosaccharides."  filed in 2011 owned by Abbott Laboratories

"The present invention pertains to a composition for inducing a pattern of gut barrier maturation similar to that observed with breast feeding and able to improve gut barrier maturation, e.g. during neonatal stress. In particular, the present invention relates to an infant formula containing a combination of specific ingredients designed to provide a synergistic effect all along gastrointestinal tract and barrier function.

During the postnatal development, the newborn intestine experiences a process of maturation that ends by the establishment of a functional barrier to macromolecules and pathogenic bacteria. This phenomenon is called gut closure and appears to be affected by the diet. Hence, different studies with infants (JPGN, 1995, 21: 383-6) and animal models (Pediatr Res, 1990, 28: 31-7) show that the maturation of the barrier is faster in breast-fed than in formula-fed newborns. This could explain the higher prevalence of allergy and infection in infants fed formula than in those fed with mother milk."

Patent # 8394370, entitled, "Nutritional formula for optimal gut barrier function," filed in 2004, owned by Nestec [Nestle]

Copyright 2018 Valerie W. McClain