http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/09/08/loc_loc1amilk.html

Breast milk has anti-diarrhea agent

Children's researchers find ingredient that fights affliction

By Matt Leingang
Enquirer staff writer

Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have identified
the ingredient in human breast milk that provides powerful protection
against severe diarrhea in infants.

The discovery, reported in this week's Journal of Pediatrics, could lead to
new medications in the fight against infectious diarrhea in children and
adults, preventing millions of deaths worldwide.
Physicians have long known about the antibodies in human breast milk that
give babies a kind of natural immunity against ear infections, bacterial
meningitis and certain kinds of disease, including infectious diarrhea.
But a previously unknown mechanism, responsible for most of this immunity,
also seemed to be at work.
Researchers now say complex sugar molecules - called oligosaccharides - act
as a decoy, causing diarrhea-inducing viruses to attach to them instead of a
baby's gastrointestinal tract.
"This gives us another reason to emphasize the importance of breastfeeding,"
said Ardythe Morrow, a researcher at Children's Hospital and the study's
lead author. "These sugars are not found in baby formula or in cow's milk
off the shelf."
Although it could be at least five years before scientists are able to
duplicate the sugars and produce new drugs, Morrow called the discovery an
important first step.
Children's Hospital, along with two partners in the study - the University
of Massachusetts and the National Institute of Medical Science and Nutrition
in Mexico City - have formed a company to develop and test such drugs.
 (see link above for rest of article - gives benefits of breastfeeding,
risks of severe diarrhea, breastfeeding stats)


I think this is the study that the article is based on:

Novel oligosaccharides in human milk: understanding mechanisms may lead to
better prevention of enteric and other infections
The Journal of Pediatrics
September 2004 . Volume 145 . Number 3

http://www2.us.elsevierhealth.com/scripts/om.dll/serve?action=searchDB&searc
hDBfor=art&artType=fullfree&id=as0022347604005293

Your shorter link is: http://makeashorterlink.com/?B25C52149

Janice Reynolds

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