Hi all, i'm writing a letter to the newspaper about the article about
allergies. My letter will be something like (this is a rough translation,
please don't look to my language. I promise you the Dutch version will be
much better :) ) :

"Thanks you for your article about allergies. it was very interesting to
read about the relation between (too much) hygiene and (not enough)
infections and the incidence of allergies, and the possibly role of T-cells
in the development of the immunesystem, while comparing (former) west and
east german children.

However it is disappointing that breastfeeding wasn't mentioned. According
to Saarinen UM, Kajosaari M. Breastfeeding as prophylaxis against atopic
disease: prospective follow-up study until 17 years old. Lancet 1995;
346:1065-69, is the incidence of allergies among breastfed children much
lower.

this is strange in the ligth of the above theory, since breastfed children
have less infection and on the average their mothers have a higher
education (and hence probably a more hygienic environment). According to
the mentioned theory, breastfed children would be expected to have *more*
allergies instead of less.

Usually the lower incidence of allergies among breastfed children is
contributed ot the fact that human milk is not allergenic, while ABM is
allergenic. The use of ABM can trigger a allergy, and so setting up an
allergic constituton for the whole life.

But probably there is more. People who are breastfed as a child have lower
incidence of illnesses that are related to the immunesystem, eg MS,
juvenile diabetes, juvenile arthitis, juvenile cancer, breastcancer, less
negative response to transplantations, and so on.

So, breastfeeding itself contributes to the development of the
immunesystem. Several components of human milk are doing this, eg the in
the article named  T-cells. It would be very interesting to investigate the
role of these cells in human milk in the development of allergies.

When comparing children from former east Germany and former west Germany,
the breatfeeding rates should be taken into account. Eg, before the fall of
the wall, in East Germany the use of human milk banks was still very
common, while in west Germany, (almost) all human milk banks have been
closed donw for several years. I don't have numbers, but I think that this
could be a sign of a more breastfeeding friendly attitude among heatlth
workes and hence a higher bf rate.

In the latest number of MNJ there is an article about the aggresive
campaigns that formula producers are currently undertake in East Europe.
They break the WHO-code. The WHO-code is stated in 1981, to protect
breastfeeding."


Now, I have a question. Are there any more diseases that are related to the
immunesystem, that have a relation with being breastfed or not, that I can
name here in my letter? Is this list (MS, juvenile diabetes, juvenile
arthitis, juvenile cancer, breastcancer, less negative response to
transplantations) correct?

TIA!

Annelies Bon      http://utopia.knoware.nl/users/abon/bfbronnen.html
breastfeeding counsellor of the Dutch bf org "Borstvoeding Natuurlijk"


--
Annelies Bon      http://utopia.knoware.nl/users/abon/bfbronnen.html
mother of Dirk 7yo, Tom 5yo, Pieter 2yo
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