Breastfeeding in the first hour of life can save 16 out of 100 infants, according to The Lancet, an international organization working on health issues globally. (statistical data 2010 prepared by Sample Registration System (SRS) of the Census of India, August 2013)
Children who had ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) were less likely to have been breastfed at 3 and 6 months of age than the children without the disorder. The authors of this study said: “We speculate that prevention, at least partial, of ADHD may be added to the list of the multiple biological advantages of human milk feeding.” (Breastfeeding Medicine, May 2013)
Results of a study support the idea that breastfeeding may confer a measure of protection against persistent stuttering. The study found that those children who began stuttering at an early age and who were breastfed in infancy were more likely than non-breastfeeding babies to recover from stuttering and return to fluent speech. (Journal of Communication Disorders, July-August 2013)
Breast milk kills cancer cells. This became known when the scientists at Lund University discovered that breast milk can kill cancer cells. In 2012 researchers at Lund University and the University of Gothenburg found that breast milk could be used to treat bladder cancer patients. Dead cancer cells were released in the urine after each treatment. Now researchers in Siberia found that a particular protein in breast milk kills cancer cells but leaves the healthy cells alone. “The drug was created based on the milk but its genetic construction was reconstituted to have stronger anti-cancer characteristics. Tests on mice showed the drug was particularly effective on lung and liver cancers. It was also found to cure encephalitis, an acute inflammation of the brain.” It was determined that a substance in breast milk called Hamlet (Human Alpha-lactalbumin Made LEthal to Tumour cells) could be used to kill 40 different types of cancer. (International Business Times, Science, October 15, 2013)
Sheila Kippley