Hi, Lactnetters,
In rereading "Welcome to Lactnet, I realized that I hadn't introduced myself,
even though I've posted several times. I'm sorry for my poor netiquette, and
for any confusion I've caused. I'm not an LC professional yet, but am just
studying, and hope to be soon. I find Lactnet extremely helpful, both because
it covers things that I wouldn't otherwise learn, and because it brings your
real
life experiences to what would otherwise be difficult-to-connect studies. From
what I've learned thus far, I think that Lactnet should be required reading for
every student of LC, even if they have nothing to contribute to it.
A few people have asked me what my P.E. means. It's for being a registered
professional engineer, one of those "irrelevant initials" for LC, but very
relevant
to me, since it pays the bills for me and my family while I'm studying. I'm
over-
employed, being full-time Chief Scientist of a small company as well as a part-
time student, so I only log on when the other balls I'm juggling are all in
the air.
Unfortunately, this often makes me slow to respond to e-mail. Please be patient
with me if I seem to be a week behind sometimes; I really may be!
I've also been asked how I got involved with LC. It would take a good deal of
space to explain, so I don't think I should waste everyone's bandwidth on it.
If you're interested, please e-mail me. Unless a huge number of people ask,
I'll just e-mail it to those who do.
Jay asked on 96/01/26:
>just reread my letter to Peggy. Anyone else catch the "10%" increasd IQ
>part? I did! :O I meant that to be 10 point increase. Oh well. I know
>that this study came from a Lancet article. Can anyone tell me which Lancet
>it was so I can forward the info to Ms Robin? I'd really appreciate it!
I've found a few references to neurological development on the web. The
first is
INFACT at http://www.io.org/~infacto/abs.htm and says:
Neurological differences between 9 year-old children fed breast- milk or
formula as babies. Lanting, C.I. et al. The Lancet. 344: 1319-1322, 1994
This Dutch retrospective study looked at the effect of breastfeeding on the
neurological development of children at age 9. A total of 135 breastfed and
391 formula fed children, after adjustment for obstetric, perinatal, neonatal,
neurological and social differences were given a follow-up neurological
examination after 9 years. Children fed with formula milk or formula
supplemented to breastmilk within the first 3 weeks of life were found to have
twice the rate of minor neurological dysfunction as compared to children
fully breastfed at least for the first 21 days of life. The authors suggest
that the
presence and severity of minor neurological dysfunction is related to behavioral
and cognitive development at school age. Three possible mechanisms for the
difference are suggested. Firstly, the psychosocial feature of breastfeeding.
Secondly, maternal hormones such as the thyroid stimulating hormones
secreted through breastmilk may have an impact. Thirdly, the beneficial effects
of essential long chain fatty acids (arachidonic, docosahexaenoic) known to be
present in breastmilk and missing in most infant formulas. These essential fatty
acids are needed for the structural development of brain and neural tissue.
Other references from "Why is breastfeeding important?" at
http://www.clark.net/pub/activist/bfpage/why_bf.html#medref include these:
Children who were formula-fed score lower on indices of neurological
development than do children who were breastfed.
Pollock, J.I. Long-term associations with infant feeding in a clinically
advantaged
population of babies. Dev. Med. Child Neurol. 1994; 36(5);429-40
[Some aspects of intellectual attainment at five and ten years of age can be
demonstrated to be inferior among children who were formula-fed compared
with those that were exclusively breastfed for at least three months.]
Morley R., et al Mother's choice to provide breastmilk and developmental
outcome. Arch Dis Child 63:1382-1385, 1988.
[Formula-fed preterm infants had lower Bayley Mental Develpment scores at
18 months, even after adjusting for social and demographic influence.]
Morrow-Tlucak, M, et al., Breastfeeding and cognitive development in the first
two years of life. Soc Sci Med 26:635-639, 1988.
[Scores on the Bayley Mental Development Index were lower in formula-fed
at 1-2 years of age, and scores were directly correlated with duration of
breastfeeding.]
Bauer G, et al. Breastfeeding and cognitive development of three-year-old
children. Psychological Reports 68:1218, 1991.
[Scores on the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities were significantly
lower at three years of age as the duration of breastfeeding decreased.]
Taylor B, et al. Breastfeeding and child development at five years. Dev Med
Child Neurol 26:73-80, 1984.
[Formula-fed children showed reduced performance on developmental tests
at age five years.]
Lucas, A. et al. Breast milk and subsequent intelligence quotient in children
born preterm. Lancet 1992;33;261-62.
[Formula-fed preterm infants had lower IQ scores at age 7-8 years than
preemies fed expressed breastmilk; the association held after controlling for
mother's education and social class, and regardless of whether the mother
attempted to express milk and failed or never attempted to express milk.]
Lucas, A., et al. A randomised multicentre study of human milk versus formula
and later development in preterm infants. Arch. Dis. Child 1994; 70;F141-146
I hope these are useful for more than just Jay; I've seen several people ask
previously.
Jonathan
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