What a pity that this finding isn't being used to promote BF. Ah the lure of
money.........

From the Jerusalem Post (6 Sept).
Local doctor finds mother's milk contains insulin
By Judy Siegel

A pediatrician at Haifa's Rambam Hospital has received a US patent for his
discovery that human mother's milk contains insulin and his proposal that
synthetic insulin be added to baby formula to improve infant digestion and
"reduce the risk" of contracting insulin-dependent (type I) diabetes.

Dr. Naim Shehadeh, deputy director of Pediatrics A, analyzed the breast milk
of healthy new mothers aged 25 to 30 who had no history of type I diabetes.
He found that aside from calcium, fat, protein, and sodium, mother's milk
contains high levels of the hormone insulin.

Working in cooperation with the Technion's medical school, Shehadeh found
that the insulin in mother's milk has no effect on babies' blood sugar
levels, but did have a major influence on the development of the
gastrointestinal system, including the pancreas, whose islet cells produce
insulin. The mucous membrane in the intestine has receptors for the insulin
in mother's milk, said Shehadeh.

The immune system's destruction of these cells because it mistakenly
recognizes them as a "foreign invader" causes insulin-dependent diabetes,
which has a hereditary component and also may be triggered by a viral
infection during pregnancy.

The destruction of insulin-producing cells requires synthetic insulin to be
injected every day to metabolize the sugar in the blood.

Shehadeh and his colleagues examined five kinds of mother's milk substitute
manufactured in Israel and abroad and found that none of them contains
insulin. Cow's milk was found too have a much lower insulin level than that
in human mother's milk. "All studies until now have found that mother's milk
is the best for baby, and we recommend it heartily. But in cases where
breastfeeding is not possible, mothers give their babies formula," he said.

Recent research has shown that breastfed babies have a significantly lower
risk of developing type I diabetes, and that children at risk for it can
stave off the disease if they get prophylactic injections of insulin from an
early age.

The Haifa pediatrician is now working on ways to introduce the hormone into
baby formula, and a number of companies have shown much interest, he said.

Dr. Dorit Nitzan-Kalusky, head of the Health Ministry's nutrition
department, commented that she had been informed of the research and advised
the doctors apply for permission for Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III
clinical trials to prove that adding insulin to formula is not only safe but
also effective in protecting against type I diabetes. "We would not approve
adding insulin until a major country's licensing authorities, such as the US
Food and Drug Administration, approved it first. Adding a hormone to infant
food should not be carried out without careful consideration," she said.

Nitzan-Kalusky added that breast milk is incredibly complex. "It has
different components, depending on the age of the baby and how many minutes
have passed since the mother began a feeding. The ratio of the components
change all the time." The nutrition expert said it would take considerable
evidence to prove that giving babies insulin in formula could reduce the
risk of diabetes.

Shehadeh conceded that it "would take years" for clinical trials to be
carried out and enough evidence to prove his hypothesis.

                 Toby Gish RN, IBCLC
                       (Haifa, Israel)

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