Hi, Lactnetters, In rereading "Welcome to Lactnet, I realized that I hadn't introduced myself, even though I've posted several times. I'm sorry for my poor netiquette, and for any confusion I've caused. I'm not an LC professional yet, but am just studying, and hope to be soon. I find Lactnet extremely helpful, both because it covers things that I wouldn't otherwise learn, and because it brings your real life experiences to what would otherwise be difficult-to-connect studies. From what I've learned thus far, I think that Lactnet should be required reading for every student of LC, even if they have nothing to contribute to it. A few people have asked me what my P.E. means. It's for being a registered professional engineer, one of those "irrelevant initials" for LC, but very relevant to me, since it pays the bills for me and my family while I'm studying. I'm over- employed, being full-time Chief Scientist of a small company as well as a part- time student, so I only log on when the other balls I'm juggling are all in the air. Unfortunately, this often makes me slow to respond to e-mail. Please be patient with me if I seem to be a week behind sometimes; I really may be! I've also been asked how I got involved with LC. It would take a good deal of space to explain, so I don't think I should waste everyone's bandwidth on it. If you're interested, please e-mail me. Unless a huge number of people ask, I'll just e-mail it to those who do. Jay asked on 96/01/26: >just reread my letter to Peggy. Anyone else catch the "10%" increasd IQ >part? I did! :O I meant that to be 10 point increase. Oh well. I know >that this study came from a Lancet article. Can anyone tell me which Lancet >it was so I can forward the info to Ms Robin? I'd really appreciate it! I've found a few references to neurological development on the web. The first is INFACT at http://www.io.org/~infacto/abs.htm and says: Neurological differences between 9 year-old children fed breast- milk or formula as babies. Lanting, C.I. et al. The Lancet. 344: 1319-1322, 1994 This Dutch retrospective study looked at the effect of breastfeeding on the neurological development of children at age 9. A total of 135 breastfed and 391 formula fed children, after adjustment for obstetric, perinatal, neonatal, neurological and social differences were given a follow-up neurological examination after 9 years. Children fed with formula milk or formula supplemented to breastmilk within the first 3 weeks of life were found to have twice the rate of minor neurological dysfunction as compared to children fully breastfed at least for the first 21 days of life. The authors suggest that the presence and severity of minor neurological dysfunction is related to behavioral and cognitive development at school age. Three possible mechanisms for the difference are suggested. Firstly, the psychosocial feature of breastfeeding. Secondly, maternal hormones such as the thyroid stimulating hormones secreted through breastmilk may have an impact. Thirdly, the beneficial effects of essential long chain fatty acids (arachidonic, docosahexaenoic) known to be present in breastmilk and missing in most infant formulas. These essential fatty acids are needed for the structural development of brain and neural tissue. Other references from "Why is breastfeeding important?" at http://www.clark.net/pub/activist/bfpage/why_bf.html#medref include these: Children who were formula-fed score lower on indices of neurological development than do children who were breastfed. Pollock, J.I. Long-term associations with infant feeding in a clinically advantaged population of babies. Dev. Med. Child Neurol. 1994; 36(5);429-40 [Some aspects of intellectual attainment at five and ten years of age can be demonstrated to be inferior among children who were formula-fed compared with those that were exclusively breastfed for at least three months.] Morley R., et al Mother's choice to provide breastmilk and developmental outcome. Arch Dis Child 63:1382-1385, 1988. [Formula-fed preterm infants had lower Bayley Mental Develpment scores at 18 months, even after adjusting for social and demographic influence.] Morrow-Tlucak, M, et al., Breastfeeding and cognitive development in the first two years of life. Soc Sci Med 26:635-639, 1988. [Scores on the Bayley Mental Development Index were lower in formula-fed at 1-2 years of age, and scores were directly correlated with duration of breastfeeding.] Bauer G, et al. Breastfeeding and cognitive development of three-year-old children. Psychological Reports 68:1218, 1991. [Scores on the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities were significantly lower at three years of age as the duration of breastfeeding decreased.] Taylor B, et al. Breastfeeding and child development at five years. Dev Med Child Neurol 26:73-80, 1984. [Formula-fed children showed reduced performance on developmental tests at age five years.] Lucas, A. et al. Breast milk and subsequent intelligence quotient in children born preterm. Lancet 1992;33;261-62. [Formula-fed preterm infants had lower IQ scores at age 7-8 years than preemies fed expressed breastmilk; the association held after controlling for mother's education and social class, and regardless of whether the mother attempted to express milk and failed or never attempted to express milk.] Lucas, A., et al. A randomised multicentre study of human milk versus formula and later development in preterm infants. Arch. Dis. Child 1994; 70;F141-146 I hope these are useful for more than just Jay; I've seen several people ask previously. Jonathan