Someone wrote:

"Much of my logic and thoughts on breastfeeding go back to when we had to
survive and live out in the wild like many other animals, for example bf
prevents allergies.  Since animals and mammals live their lives outside they
would have to be, for the most part, antiallergic.  Back in the cavemen
times we didn't have Flonase."

Remember that much of the world modern human population still "lives out in
the wild" -- spending much of their day outside.  This does not mean they
don't have allergies -- they do (as do other mammals, birds, etc.).  Most of
the modern human population still doesn't have Flonase, or even facial
tissues,, and therefore they suffer.  Never assume that because people
living in traditional cultures don't have a cure for something that they
therefore must not suffer from it.  This would be like saying "Because
cavemen didn't have vaccinations for measles, they must not have gotten
measles."  On the contrary, they got measles, suffered greatly, and many of
them died from it as children.

In places such as rural Mali, where most children still don't have access to
immunizations, even though they are breastfed for about two years, almost
50% of children don't survive to the age of 5 years.  The get (and die from)
the measles, chicken pox, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, meningitis,
polio, and of course malaria.  And they used to die of smallpox, before the
eradication campaign against it in the 1960s.

Elderly Malian men in rural villages would always ask if I had any aspirin,
which they viewed as a miracle drug because it lessened their pain from
headaches and arthritis.  You don't find too many adults with asthma in
Mali, because they die before they reach adulthood.  Same with cystic
fibrosis, Down Syndrome, cleft palate, and many other conditions that are
perfectly compatible with life in a modern western country.  That doesn't
mean these conditions don't occur there, they just aren't diagnosed or
treated, and so they are fatal early on.

Kathy Dettwyler, anthropologist
www.kathydettwyler.org

_________________________________________________________________
Get fast, reliable access with MSN 9 Dial-up. Click here for Special Offer!
http://click.atdmt.com/AVE/go/onm00200361ave/direct/01/

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

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(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html