< Has there been any real *research* on Rapp assertion, or just her theory? >

The blurp on her book says Doris J. Rapp, M.D., FAAA, FAAP, is a board-certified environmental
medical specialist and pediatric allergist for children. She is clinical assistant professor of
pediatrics at the State University of New York at Buffalo. She is the founder of the Practical
Allregy Foundation in Buffalo and is the past president of the American Academy of Environmental
Medicine.

At the book's printing, 1991, she had been working as an allergist for about 34 years - 19 as a
traditional allergist, and 15 as an environmental medical specialist. The book "Is This your Child?"
has been highly recommended in the LACTNET archives, also by Maurin Minchin and Chris Hafner-Eaton.

Her theory, that a mother who over-eats milk products in pregnancy will see an overly active baby
(the mother will feel bruised from kicking) and chronic hiccoughing in the womb, corresponded to my
first pregnancy, where I lived from yogurt. My boy, now an adolescent, has had the development she
describes in her book, starting with GERD, moving through hyperactivity and allergies and moving
into depression. My second boy was not exposed to as much milk during pregnancy, hiccoughed normally
(occasionally, not every day a few times). He has allergies, though no behavior problem. (I also
have allergies.) My third boy was exposed to no milk during pregnancy. I drank very little milk
while nursing him, and he is the only one who has no allergies.

It's impossible, of course, to generalize about the causes of children's behavioral difficulties,
but when people with long years of clinical experience see a pattern, I believe it's worth taking
seriously. In an online group for GERD-children, there's been a terrific response from the mothers
to Rapp's description of the allergic infant and behavior in the womb.

Hilar Jacobson

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html