My husband has otosclerosis. My understanding is that the small bones  
in the ear fuse together over time, preventing them from vibrating in  
response to sound. Obviously he has never breastfed a baby, yet he was  
almost deaf by his mid-30s (until he had surgery to replace the  
affected bones with plastic ones, now he can hear fine).

Do the doctors/medical texts explain HOW breastfeeding would affect  
this condition? If I were your patient, I would want some plausible  
explanation of why weaning will help her.

FWIW, my husband's mother also has otosclerosis. She breastfed each of  
her two children about 3 months (she stopped not because of the  
otosclerosis, but because of typical pediatrician advice at the time).  
She has worn hearing aids since she was in her thirties. Of course,  
this is not a scientific study, but in her case early cessation of  
breastfeeding did not stop her condition from worsening.

Jennifer





On Dec 12, 2008, at 8:10 AM, Kika Baeza wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> I have a patient who has been diagnosed with otosclerosis (a genetic  
> disease
> of the ear which causes progressive deafness). The ENT has told her  
> to stop
> breastfeeding her three month old inmediately beause it will worsen  
> her
> condition.
>
> In many medical texts it says that pregnancy and breastfeeding are a  
> risk
> factor for and can speed up and worsen the disease. However, I  
> cannot find
> any studies to support this.
>
> The only thing I have found is a study by Lippy and his group that  
> says
> precisely the opposite:
> * *Laryngoscope.
> <javascript:AL_get(this,%20'jour',%20'Laryngoscope.');>2005
> Oct;115(10):1833-6.
> <javascript:PopUpMenu2_Set(Menu16222205);>*Does pregnancy affect
> otosclerosis?**Lippy
> WH*<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Lippy%20WH%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstract 
> >,
> *Berenholz LP*<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Berenholz%20LP%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstract 
> >,
> *Schuring AG*<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Schuring%20AG%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstract 
> >,
> *Burkey JM*<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Burkey%20JM%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstract 
> >
> .
> Were it says that ninety-four women (47 with children and 47  
> without) were
> evaluated. Because many of the women had bilateral otosclerosis, the  
> total
> number of ears studied was 128. There was no difference in  
> discrimination
> scores between groups. Within the group with children, no significant
> correlation was found between number of children and hearing loss.  
> Also, no
> correlation was found between breastfeeding and the amount of  
> hearing loss.
>
> I have no access to the whole article, so I cannot know how long the
> breastfeeding was, wether it was exclusive etc etc.
>
> Actually, Lippy says in another article that the relationship between
> otoseclerosis and pregnancy was a Nazi "plot" to promote racial  
> purity -
> that is, a way to scare women with otosclerosis into not having  
> children and
> therefore not passing on the defect.
>
> Any way, can anyone out there shed any true scientific light on this  
> issue?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Kika
> -- 
> Dra. Carmela Baeza
> Médico de Familia
> Consultora Certificada en Lactancia Materna IBCLC
> www.centroraices.com
> Comprometida con el Derecho a Vivir
> http://derechoavivir.org
>
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