Here's an interesting article I came across about new ways to prevent
blindness in preemies.

http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/parenting/10/25/preemie.blindness.ap/index.ht
ml

One way is to reduce the oxygen mix, but another is to increase IGF-1.
Excerpted from the article:

"Fetuses normally absorb IGF-1 from the placenta and amniotic fluid. Limit
IGF-1 levels in baby mice and they develop ROP-like disease. [Dr. Lois]
Smith then studied 80 human preemies and found those with ROP had the lowest
IGF-1 levels. Next year she hopes to begin testing to determine whether
giving premature infants doses of IGF-1 right after birth can protect them."

We know that IGF-1 occurs naturally in breastmilk - I wonder if Dr. Smith is
going to include this in her study?

A study in 1997 showed that premature babies who were given breastmilk and
had almost double the serum IGF-1 levels of those receiving formula alone.
(Diaz-Gomez NM, Domenech E, Barroso F. Breast-feeding and growth factors in
preterm newborn infants. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 1997 Mar;24:322-7.)  I
wonder if levels could be increased even more by exclusively giving mother's
milk.  And I wonder what percentage of the infants experiencing this problem
are not receiving mother's milk.

Can't help but wonder if, again, better results would be achieved by using
breastmilk for preemies instead of formula.

Anyone heard about this?  It sounds promising...

Carolyn Shannon

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