>Any ideas, or further info?

My first idea is that our newspaper will tell us about this danger with
breastfeeding, making sure to eliminate the last part about the importance
of breastfeeding anyway.  The paper failed to print the reports from Lancet
about hypertension and obesity, but I'll be we get this one.

I, of course, haven't seen the original research, but one can wonder where
the researchers found a good sample of infants that were "exclusively
breastfed."  It appears that the research was based on the recollections of
the mothers long after infancy was past.

Also, asthmatic mothers might be more likely to breastfeed (exclusively, if
possible)  hoping to lessen the chance of their children's having asthma.
And whatever triggers Mom may have for her asthma would be in the child's
environment and be affecting the child after the protection of
breastfeeding is past.

Also the mothers reported the length of time that they breastfed, but we
are not told how long that was and if they delayed solids (against their
Peds orders) until well into their first year.  In the US, until 1997, 6
months was "extended" breastfeeding--very few exclusive.  And, as infants,
the children were protected.  It looks as if breastfeeding for 5-6 years
would be one solution.

>The researchers suspect chemicals in the mother's milk affect the child's
>immune system and the onset of asthma.

That's a strange statement.  I wonder if the news report was off on that one.

I'll bet that the research doesn't support that first attention-grabbing
sentence:

 "Asthmatic mothers who breast feed their children could be
increasing their risk of developing the disease, U.S. researchers said on
Thursday."

On Lactnet Heather (from UK) quotes from a report there:

breast-feeding protects against asthma up to the age of two years.
However, by the age of six, children with asthmatic mothers were five
times more likely to wheeze if they had been breast-fed, an effect
that persisted into their teenage years. However, the increased risk
only applies to children who have a tendency to allergic reaction -
something that only becomes apparent at an age long after decisions
about whether or not to breast-feed have been made.

And long after accurate accounts of whether there was "any" formula given
in hospital--even a few drops on the nipple to get baby to latch, or the
bottle that was given when baby went to the central nursery and "slept" for
5 hours.

Will the U.S. papers print the last sentence that Heather sent?

Pat Gima



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