Rachel,
You might want to share this website with your friend who could share it with
her pediatrician.  This company sells lactoferrin diagnostic kits--testing
tears for levels of lactoferrin aiding in the diagnosis of
keratoconjuctivitis sicca and to assess lacrimal gland function.  Lactoferrin
is secreted in tears but lactoferrin is also a component in breastmilk.  This
company discusses lactoferrin's role in eye health and says such things as
"lactoferrin plays a key role in ocular defense," "protects the cornea tissue
from reoxygenation injury after extensive hypoxia," protects the corneal
epithelium from solar UV irradiation."

Recombinant human lactoferrin is being used in eye care products because of
the studies done on human lactoferrin.  Human lactoferrin studies used
breastmilk because breastmilk has alot of lactoferrin in it.  So we have
products for use in eye care based on human lactoferrin's (breastmilk's) role
in "modulating the inflammatory response, controlling cell growth, protecting
against infections and allogeneic recognition reactions."

Yet, because most of our medical community does not know this and because we
believe that man-made products are safer and cleaner;  mothers are
discouraged from using something they naturally produce to treat
conjunctivitis.  Recombinant human lactoferrin is considered to be a new
antibiotic and some biotech companies have a heavy investment in its
promotion.  Yet, our society is not being informed that this new antibiotic
is based on research on human breastmilk.  It makes sense that this is not
mentioned because breastmilk is the competition.  The survival and
profitability of a business depends on discrediting the competition and
hopefully destroying the competition (creating a monopoly).  Much of the
medical community is ensnared by the drug and infant formula industry.  Thus
we have every reason under the sun why women shouldn't breastfeed and
particularly why they shouldn't use their milk medicinally.  Valerie W.
McClain, IBCLC

Here's the web site (can't get there directly)
http://www.touchscientific.com/assays.htm

click on lactoferrin (in blue letters)

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