Breastfeeding News and Research

Latest Breastfeeding News and Research

Patients over 45 years with history of early menopause 50% less likely to develop severe RA

A new study presented today at EULAR 2012, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism, shows that early menopause predicts a milder form of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

8 Jun 2012

Pneumonia and diarrhoea remain biggest killers of East Asia-Pacific children

A new report from UNICEF has highlighted the huge child survival gap between the richest and the poorest children by focusing on pneumonia and diarrhoea – the two primary killers of children under the age of five.

8 Jun 2012

Childhood obesity risk linked to delivery method

Delivery by cesarean section may double the risk for childhood obesity compared with vaginal delivery, show US study findings.

30 May 2012

Safety of breast implants

Following the recent scandal, described in May 2012 by the BBC as the “PIP breast implant scandal”, (1) many women may have been put off having breast implants. But how safe exactly is breast enlargement? And how do the different methods compare?

29 May 2012

Childhood obesity risk may be increased by caesarean section delivery

Caesarean section delivery may double the risk of subsequent childhood obesity, finds research published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

24 May 2012

B cells in breast milk can produce HIV-neutralizing antibodies

Antibodies that help to stop the HIV virus have been found in breast milk. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center isolated the antibodies from immune cells called B cells in the breast milk of infected mothers in Malawi, and showed that the B cells in breast milk can generate neutralizing antibodies that may inhibit the virus that causes AIDS.

23 May 2012

Bayer’s Nexavar Phase 3 trial on NSCLC does not meet primary endpoint

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that a Phase 3 trial evaluating Nexavar (sorafenib) tablets in patients with advanced relapsed or refractory non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease progressed after two or three previous treatments, did not meet its primary endpoint of improving overall survival.

22 May 2012

Data from Janssen’s SIMPONI Phase 3 study on ulcerative colitis

New study findings presented today show that subcutaneous induction regimens of the anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha therapy SIMPONI (golimumab) induced clinical response in a majority of patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) who had previously failed or were intolerant to conventional agents.

22 May 2012

HMO critically important in understanding how breastfeeding protects babies

A new University of Illinois study shows that human milk oligosaccharides, or HMO, produce short-chain fatty acids that feed a beneficial microbial population in the infant gut. Not only that, the bacterial composition adjusts as the baby grows older and its needs change.

15 May 2012

Efforts to stem childhood mortality in Ghana will not be enough to reach MDG, UNICEF official says

Anirban Chatterjee, chief of health and nutrition for UNICEF in Ghana, said the country "is doing a lot" to fight child mortality -- referring to a recently launched vaccination campaign and an initiative to educate mothers about nutrition -- but "I don't think it's enough" to reach the fourth U.N. Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to reduce the under-five mortality rate by two thirds by 2015, Inter Press Service reports.

11 May 2012

Best and worst mothers worldwide

Right in time for Mother’s day comes a report on the best and worst mothers worldwide. U.S. moms have moved up six places - from 31st to 25th - in the 13th annual Save The Children State of the World's Mothers report. That puts the U.S. right between Belarus and the Czech Republic. Norway is No. 1, just ahead of Iceland and Sweden.

10 May 2012

Research with infant twins shows that environmental conditions determine testosterone levels

By comparing the testosterone levels of five-month old pairs of twins, both identical and non-identical, University of Montreal researchers were able to establish that testosterone levels in infancy are not inherited genetically but rather determined by environmental factors. "Testosterone is a key hormone for the development of male reproductive organs, and it is also associated with behavioural traits, such as sexual behaviour and aggression," said lead author Dr. Richard E. Tremblay of the university's Research Unit on Children's Psychosocial Maladjustment.

10 May 2012

Janssen submits XARELTO sNDA with FDA to reduce risk of stent thrombosis in ACS patients

Janssen Research & Development, LLC announced today that it has submitted a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking approval for the use of XARELTO, an oral anticoagulant, to reduce the risk of stent thrombosis in patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome.

10 May 2012

Viewpoints: Taking aim at 'superbugs'; Friending organ donations; Ariz. and Kansas abortion efforts hurt women

In the battle between humans and infectious bacteria, humans have had the advantage, at least since antibiotics were introduced into our arsenal 70 or so years ago. Now, however, our weapons appear to be turning against us as germs have found ways to outfox antibiotics…. A second challenge is to keep a steady stream of new antibiotics in the pipeline, and this is where the big pharmaceutical companies based in Europe and the U.S. come in….

9 May 2012

Center for the Promotion of Maternal Health and Infant Development opens

On May 3, 2012, Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego and the UC San Diego School of Medicine launched the Center for the Promotion of Maternal Health and Infant Development.

5 May 2012

UNICEF stresses need for higher breastfeeding rates in East Asia

UNICEF "has voiced alarm at the decline of breastfeeding across East Asia, stressing the need for mothers to understand its long-term benefits for the survival and development of their children," Bernama reports.

3 May 2012

New research challenges recommendation to restrict soothers in breastfeeding infants

Binkies, corks, soothers. Whatever you call pacifiers, conventional wisdom holds that giving them to newborns can interfere with breastfeeding.

30 Apr 2012

Food-insecure mothers associated with childhood obesity

While eating too much food can cause obesity, the fear of not having enough food may lead to the same result, according to a study to be presented Saturday, April 28, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Boston.

30 Apr 2012

Long-duration breastfeeders sacrifice considerable income

Pediatricians and other breastfeeding advocates often encourage new mothers to breastfeed their babies for at least the first six months of their infants' lives based on the purported health benefits to both mothers and children. Many breastfeeding proponents also argue that breastfeeding has financial advantages over formula-feeding-breastfeeding is free, they say.

27 Apr 2012

Daily ART safe and effective in preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission

In early results of a large-scale randomized study published in 2010 and led by researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, giving daily antiretroviral drugs (ART) to HIV-infected moms or their breastfeeding babies for 28 weeks proved safe and effective for preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission through breast milk.

26 Apr 2012