In a message dated 12/3/2003 3:12:47 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

> Hi All
> In regard to Jay's post about a baby not being allowed to breastfeed because
> it was tachypnoeic, Dr. Ruth Lawrence states that "colostrum is not
> irritating,....and is readily
> absorbed by the respiratory tree if aspirated. "Would this apply to
> breastmilk(mature or transitional) as well?
>

Years ago [28 May 1997] on Lactnet I posted about a journal article that
studied the effect of human milk on rabbits' lungs. It showed that fresh human
milk produced NO irritation to their lungs:

"I was reading and posting about this research too late at night last night
because I just discovered a sentence in the introduction that I missed
earlier.

In their previous experiment the researchers "instilled 0.4 ml per kg of
breast milk at its native pH level (6.6 - 7.4) into rabbits' lungs [and]
found NO EVIDENCE of lung injury."  [Emphasis mine.]

So I would presume then that cup-fed human milk would also cause no harm.

That study was the Can J Anaesth 1994 41:A57 article by Shorten et al: The
effects of pulmonary aspiration of human breast milk and normal saline in
the intubated rabbit.

And, these researchers are associated with The Hospital for Sick Children in
Toronto in Jack Newman's back yard, so to speak."

A second study showed that only when they acidified the milk were their
histological changes in the lungs.  [I posted about that one on May 27 1997
Aspiration injury to lungs]

Mardrey Swenson, DC, IBCLC






             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html