It came to mind that an ILCA tape where I first heard about DHA was of a
lecture by a woman researcher who talked about DHA and arachadonic acid and
how preterm infants lose out on these since most of it is passed to the
infant in the third trimester.  She also said that it turned out to be
difficult to just add these to formulas because when it was first tried by
adding marine fish oils there were detrimental effects to the infants.  She
had been working on this for *ten* years!!  I think I remember that she
breastfed her children.  Should she be barred from Lactnet?  Do we want
formula for those infants who cannot obtain breastmilk?  Shouldn't it be
improved after research has been done to add substances safely?

Mardrey Swenson

This came to me from AOL News Profiles:
      By LAURAN NEERGAARD
      WASHINGTON (AP) - A fat found in breast milk that appears vital
for newborns' brain and eye development is at the center of a
fierce debate: should the government add this nutrient to the
nation's infant formulas?
      European women already can buy formulas supplemented with the
fatty acid DHA, but no formula sold in this country contains it.
      A company that licensed DHA to manufacturer Mead Johnson
contends U.S. companies aren't yet selling his nutrient mainly
because it would increase formula prices by 10 cents a can.
      ``Unless the public is demanding it, it's difficult to add it to
the product so the mom knows why she's spending another 10 cents,''
said David Kyle of Martek Biosciences, a Maryland laboratory that
sells DHA culled from microscopic marine algae.
      Supporters say premature infants especially need the fat,
arguing it would make formula more like mothers' milk. They cite
studies that show breast-fed babies seem slightly smarter than
formula-fed infants, and speculate DHA could help bottle-fed babies
catch up.
      But other doctors urge caution, saying any benefits appear small
while fat-supplemented formula might actually slow babies' physical
growth. The American Academy of Pediatrics says the science is
``too limited'' to decide.
      ``Even if you add DHA ... you're not mimicking mothers' milk,''
which has numerous additional nutrients, warned Dr. William Heird
of the Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor University.
      ``Formula should be the best it can be,'' countered Jan Richter
of Action for Corporate Accountability, a consumer group harshly
critical of formula.
      And the debate is highly political: Formula maker Ross
Laboratories, reportedly skeptical of DHA, took the unusual step
this weekend of flying scientists to Arizona to argue recent
discoveries in a closed meeting.
      Consumer advocates argue manufacturers should absorb the extra
cost. They say companies charge more than $2 a can wholesale for
formula that costs less than $1 a can to make.
      Now the Food and Drug Administration is trying to decide the
controversy. It hired independent experts to recommend whether DHA
and related nutrients should be added to any formula, either for
premature babies or healthy ones.
      ``Those questions are very, very hotly contested,'' said FDA
special nutrients chief Beth Yetley.
      What is undisputed:
      DHA is a polyunsaturated fatty acid, present in fish and other
foods, that women pass to babies through the uterus and breast
milk. People also make DHA from another fat already in U.S.
formulas, called linolenic acid, although no one is sure how much
babies make.
      DHA is important for early neurological development.
      Breast-fed babies develop slightly higher IQs than bottle-fed
ones, although many scientists credit that to breast-feeding
mothers' typical higher education and income. Still, bottle-fed
babies have less DHA than breast-fed ones. And premature infants,
most susceptible to neurological problems, have less time to absorb
their mothers' DHA.
      The question is whether adding DHA to formula helps babies.
      Dr. Susan Carlson of the University of Tennessee, Memphis, found
DHA-supplemented formula helped premature babies develop good
vision somewhat faster.
      Some studies indicate DHA formula also helps them score higher
on vision-attention tests believed to predict intelligence.
      But Carlson also found one DHA formula that hindered premature
babies' physical growth.
      The fish-oil supplement she used contained both DHA and a
related fat that appeared to be the problem. So Carlson repeated
her experiment with less of the bad fat and more DHA. This time,
she will tell an FDA hearing next month, the supplemented babies
were less than a pound smaller than the regular-fed ones.
      That small effect ``could be considered an acceptable tradeoff
for the higher ... (visual) acuity and enhanced maturation of
neural development,'' Carlson wrote.
      Even if using pure DHA is the answer, DHA levels in breast milk
differ greatly from mother to mother, leaving scientists unsure how
much formula would need.
      Indeed, adult Americans' average DHA levels have dropped in the
last 40 years because of changing diets. Yet there is no sign
younger generations are less intelligent or have poorer vision,
Heird said.
      He says healthy babies don't need DHA, but advises the FDA to
await larger studies of premature babies before deciding on their
formula needs.
      ``No one's claiming this stuff makes brilliant babies,'' said
University of Pittsburgh child-development director Robert McCall.
``If it does anything, it prevents relative ... disadvantages in
premature babies.''