I've been following the goats milk line and wanted to comment.  I was born
in 1955, and my young mother never even considered breastfeeding.
Apparently I screamed, vomited and was miserable from birth, but my old
family doc said I was just colicky so he adjusted the karo syrup in my
evaporated milk.  I was held twenty-four hours a day for the first 6 weeks
of my life.  Finally, my grandmother (an L.P.N.) visited and after 20
minutes of watching me scream, rushed me to the hospital where it was
discovered that I was so severely allergic to cow's milk that I was barely
surviving on the karo and water. The doctor said that my insides were raw
and bleeding.  I was put on whole goat's milk for the next 2 years which
cost $2.00 a quart!  I was a very scrawny, sickly child.  From hearing that
story over the years, there was never any doubt that my babies would be
breastfed.  My three boys were born in the 70's & I initially had no support
from friends, family or hospital staff but I was determined. It is the
greatest joy in my life that I gave my sons such a healthy start, and my mom
became my biggest supporter.
  The one thing I am interested in is the link between abm fed babies and
adult-onset autoimmune diseases.  It seems to me that there is almost an
epidemic of illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia and
chronic fatigue hitting women in their 30's and 40's.  In my exercise
classes when a client tells me that she has one of these illnesses, I ask if
she was bottle fed or breastfed.  So far they were formula babies.  I have
psoriatic arthritis and fibromyalgia so it's a personal thing for me but I
am thinking about doing research for my thesis on that.  My rheumatologist
is interested in the theory. Any thoughts, wise ones?  TIA,  Kym Dunton,
RN,BA, IBCLC
Amelia Island, Florida

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