humanmilkpatentpending: OF HURRICANES, AN INFANT FORMULA RECALL, AND MORE PATENTS

“A single, one-dimensional way of thinking has created a monoculture of the mind. And the monoculture of the mind has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is the root of why we have pitted equity against ecology and sustainability against justice.” --Vandana Shiva

Mesmerized by the Niagara Falls coming off my roof, I was too tired to be worried. Hurricane Ian was making a grand entrance, high winds and lots and lots of rain. Niagara Falls lasted about 2 hours, and then gradually dissipated to a steady drizzle of rain for many hours.

Morning arrived and I went outside to find that my street had become a river, and my front yard was just part of that river. I now had riverfront property or was the river really a lake? I always wanted to live close to the water. But frankly I really didn’t want a river to run through my house.

The water had tried to sneak in the back door, but had gotten trapped by several layers of towels. But that was it, no water snaking though my house. I was one of the lucky ones, 4 blocks away homes were swamped with water. How did I luck out? Even my electricity was still on? Why was I so lucky, and so many other people unlucky?

Life is a puzzle. I have always wondered and questioned the whys of life. My great grandfather, one of his sons, and 2-year old grandson died on a British ocean liner that sunk in 1915. His daughter, my Aunt Chrissie survived the sinking of the Lusitania. The ship had been torpedoed by a German U-boat and sunk off the coast of Ireland. The sinking of the Lusitania was one of the events that indirectly precipitated the entrance of the US into WWI. My great-grandfather and his family was suppose to travel on a different ocean liner, but at the last minute had been transferred to the Lusitania. My understanding is that although the Lusitania was a passenger ship, it was rumored to be carrying munitions to aid Britain’s war effort. Officials denied for years that ammunition was on board the Lusitania. In the 1980s divers confirmed that munitions were on board the Lusitania, and efforts have been made to recover them. https://archive.archaeology.org/0901/trenches/lusitania.html

Who lives and who dies? Is this just another war time story of bombs and bullets, and human beings getting in the way? Hurricanes are not wars. Yet I have heard that weather can be used as a weapon. It does throw our lives into shambles, depending on whether we are at the wrong place at the wrong time.

I suppose that is enough about a hurricane and luck or fate during a disaster. Speaking of fickle fate, once again Abbott is in the news. It is another recall of its infant formulas. This time it seems to be a problem with bottle caps on 2oz liquid ready-to-feed formulas and Pedialyte not sealing completely. For information on products recalled, countries effected, and phone numbers to call for questions, I have an article from the Miami Herald. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/recalls/article267468118.html

And from Abbott: https://www.similacrecall.com/us/en/home.html

I am sure Abbott is not a happy camper right now. Their stock prices may slide downwards. Supposedly this will not impact the supply chain, according to Abbott. I thought I’d share a couple of patents owned by Abbott. And one interesting one on myelination of the brain and duration of breastfeeding from Duke University.

US Patent #8802650 entitled, “Method of Using Human Milk Oligosaccharides for Improving Airway Respiratory Health,” owned by Abbott Labs.

One statement in the patent, “Breastfeeding has been associated with enhanced development and balanced growth and maturation of the infant respiratory, gastrointestinal and immune systems, thereby providing protection of the infant to infection and inflammatory diseases.”

Are you surprised that an infant formula company makes such a statement on a US patent document? And should one ask how Human Milk Oligosaccharides are created by our men and women of science? And how man-made Human Milk Oligosaccharide is the same thing as that which is made in the mammary glands of a mother?

US patent # 9539269 entitled, “Method for decreasing the incidence of necrotizing entercolitis in infants, toddlers, or children using human milk oligosaccharides,” owned by Abbott Labs.

“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).”

“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.”

There is the belief that one component, Human Milk Oligosaccharide (HMO), manufactured by Abbott, will work like the real human milk component and create a barrier against pathogens and activate the immune system. Have they proved that in clinical trials, compared breastfeeding vs. infant formula with HMOs?

US Patent # 11426419 entitled, “Compositions and Methods for the Repair of Myelin,” owned by Duke University

“Human breast milk is associated with improved cognitive development. Recent studies have shown that a direct correlation between duration of breastfeeding and the integrity of myelination microstructure exists in humans.”

I think this is fascinating particularly since media articles from a few years ago often stated that the reason children who are breastfed tested higher on IQ scores was because women who breastfed were more likely to be of higher education and economic status and spent more time with their infants/children. According to those articles there was no physical reason for this difference. But lo and behold, this patent inventor/researcher believes that some substance from human milk is supporting the myelination of a baby’s brain. I actual think that there is likely more than one substance in human milk that supports myelination of the brain. I believe the act of breastfeeding also helps accelerate the cognitive abilities of infants. Breastfeeding means time spent with a baby, and the magic of oxytocin creates a bond of love that forms a base of attachment in which learning is facilitated.

Our society knows that breastfeeding is better than infant formula feeding. Yet the investment in our society is in human milk, and pumping so that mothers can separate from their babies and children. It is part and parcel of society that invests in things over people. La Leche League often spoke of people before things. Things are replaceable, people are not. Hopefully, we will remember to hold dear the time we spend with family and friends, with our babies and children (grandchildren and great- grandchildren). No regrets, instead an understanding of what is important, and what is not so important.