Mother's Milk (mother + milk)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Lactational programming? mother's milk energy predicts infant behavior and temperament in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 6 2010
Katie Hinde
Abstract There are many aspects of "mothering" that may provide information to the mammalian infant about environmental conditions during critical periods of development. One essential element of mothering involves the quantity and quality of milk that mothers provide for their infants, but little is known about the consequences of variation in milk production. Mother's milk may affect infant behavior by contributing to brain development and to the development of behavioral dispositions. Here we present the first evidence for any mammal that natural variation in available milk energy (AME) from the mother is associated with later variation in infant behavior and temperament in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta, N=59). In the early postnatal period, heavier mothers with more reproductive experience produced greater AME, which is the product of milk energy density (kcal/g) and milk yield (g). Moreover, infants whose mothers produced greater AME in the early postnatal period showed higher activity levels and greater confidence in a stressful setting later in infancy. Our results suggest that the milk energy available soon after birth may be a nutritional cue that calibrates the infant's behavior to environmental or maternal conditions. These data provide new insight into potential mechanisms for the development of behavior and temperament and illuminate new directions for investigating maternal effects, nutritional programming, and developmental plasticity. Am. J. Primatol. 72:522,529, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Bedside analysis of human milk for adjustable nutrition strategy

ACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 2 2009
Aiko Menjo
Abstract Aim: Mother's milk is optimum for preterm infants, but human milk fortifier is required at times, because some nutrients are sometimes insufficient for infant growth. It is important to measure the nutrients in breast milk at bedside so that the amount of nutrients that need to be supplemented can be determined. A human milk analyser (HMA, Miris®) is currently available. We examined if the macronutrient values measured by human milk analyser are comparable with those measured by conventional methods. We also sought to discover whether we could dilute the milk sample used for the human milk analyser measurement if the amount of milk available for testing was insufficient. Subjects and Methods: First, the results of protein, fat and lactose content in breast milk samples obtained using the human milk analyser and conventional methods were compared. Second, we measured diluted samples and compared the values with nondiluted samples. Results: When comparing the human milk analyser and conventional methods, all three nutrients exhibited a significantly positive correlation (p < 0.001); lactose content was reliable on the condition that it is 6,7 g/dL. The lactose content measured by the HPLC method was obtained by 3.05 × human milk analyser value , 13.4. When comparing diluted and nondiluted samples, fat and protein had expected values after dilution whereas lactose did not. Conclusion: The human milk analyser can inform us about the amount of major nutrients in breast milk: fat, protein and lactose. However, when human milk is diluted, the lactose content measured by the human milk analyser is overestimated. [source]


Development of learned flavor preferences

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY, Issue 5 2006
Kevin P. Myers
Abstract Rats, like humans, are born with only a few innate flavor preferences and aversions. Preferences retain great plasticity throughout the lifespan because they are sensitive to modification by experience. From an early age, rats can rapidly learn to prefer or avoid a flavor (conditioned stimulus, CS) that is associated with a positive or negative unconditioned stimulus (US). The US may be the mother's milk, social or thermotactile stimulation, or other food-related stimuli. Flavor-flavor learning occurs when the CS flavor is mixed with a naturally preferred (e.g., sweet) or avoided (e.g., bitter) US flavor. Flavor preferences and aversions are also produced by USs that have postoral positive (e.g., nutritious) or negative (e.g., toxic) actions. These types of learning appear to involve different behavioral and neural mechanisms as indicated by differences in conditioned responses, effective temporal parameters, resistance to extinction, and neurochemical mechanisms. New evidence indicates that flavor-nutrient preference learning can occur before weaning and influence food selection after weaning. Flavor conditioning not only affects food choice, but can also significantly increase food acceptance, that is, total consumption. Thus, from an early age, learning processes shape the feeding behavior of animals. While primarily serving an adaptive function, learning may play a role in biasing individuals towards excessive intake and weight gain. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 48: 380,388, 2006. [source]


Uptake of Pyrene in a Breast-Fed Child of a Mother Treated with Coal Tar

PEDIATRIC DERMATOLOGY, Issue 2 2009
Paul T. J. Scheepers Ph.D.
Coal tar containing ointments contain genotoxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Over a period of 50 days the accumulated dose of different coal tar containing ointments treatments corresponded to 993 mg of pyrene and 464 mg of benz[a]pyrene. During this treatment she gave breast milk to her 3-month-old daughter. Analysis of urine samples from the breast-fed child showed elevated levels of urinary excretion of a metabolite of pyrene (1-hydroxypyrene, 1-OHP). These levels were in the same range as urinary excretion levels of this metabolite observed in the mother's urine. As no pyrene was observed in breast milk at a limit of determination of 0.0035 ,mol/L, transfer of pyrene from mother to child via breast milk is not likely. Also, a low level of 1-hydroxypyrene observed in the mother's milk did not account for the observed urinary excretion levels in the child. It must therefore be assumed that pyrene was transferred from mother to child via another route, presumably direct skin-to-skin or skin-to-mouth contact. Dermatologists should inform their patients who receive treatment with coal tar containing ointments of the risk of transfer of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by skin-to-skin or skin-to-mouth contact. [source]


The global obesity epidemic: Snacking and obesity may start with free meals during infant feeding

ACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 11 2005
CHARLOTTE ERLANSON-ALBERTSSON
Abstract Feeding is vital for survival. The brain has strong hunger and reward mechanisms that ensure optimal food intake for adequate nutrition. The drive for feeding is particularly strong in humans whose large brains require large energy support. This starts immediately after birth; the newborn child being able to taste sucrose and suck the sweet and fat from its mother's milk. At present, mothers are generally advised to breastfeed children as often as they like, which may be up to 15 times a day. At the same time, childhood obesity is rapidly developing. One reason for the rapidly increasing prevalence of childhood obesity may be overfeeding with snack food. Conclusion: We hypothesize that non-rule breastfeeding favours the development of snacking throughout the day during childhood, a habit which in turn favours the development of obesity. [source]


Aspects of Infant Food Formulation

COMPREHENSIVE REVIEWS IN FOOD SCIENCE AND FOOD SAFETY, Issue 4 2007
D.K. Thompkinson
ABSTRACT:, Milk is a biological fluid of exceptional complexity. It contains the nutrients for the growth and development of the newborn. The compositional structure of milk is, however, dependent on the species and tailored to sustain growth and development of its own offspring. Human milk contains specific proteins, lipids, and other components designed to be easily digestible and which have important roles to play in child development. Human infants should ideally be nursed on mother's milk, which constitutes nature's best food. However, in the event of lactation failure, insufficient milk secretion, and where mothers are suffering from transmittable diseases, human milk substitutes serve as savers of precious life during vulnerable stages of infancy. Bovine milk as such or with certain modifications has been widely used for infant feeding. There has been an ever-increasing reliance on formula feeding practices both in developed and developing countries. Bovine milk based dried formulations have become a prominent feature of infantile dietetics. Emphasis has been laid on the manufacture of formulations having compositional and biochemical characteristics similar to human milk. The technological advancement for the production of infant formula has come a long way in the manufacture of a variety of infant formulae for the dietary management of infants. This is a comprehensive review providing insight on the detailed compositional differences of various nutrients present in human milk as compared to bovine milk, their makeup, significance, and recommended levels of intake that are best suited for the growth and development of infants fed on modified/prepared infant formulations. [source]


Nicotine in breast milk influences heart rate variability in the infant

ACTA PAEDIATRICA, Issue 8 2008
Anders Dahlström
Abstract Aim: To study the effects of postnatal exposure to nicotine on the regulation of heart rate and blood pressure in infants. Subjects and Methods: Thirty-eight mother,infant pairs were studied. Twenty nonsmoking and 18 smoking (2,20 cigarettes per day) mothers were included. All infants were healthy, exclusively breastfed and their postnatal age was 6 weeks. During a home visit infant's urine and mothers' milk were sampled and concentrations of nicotine and cotinine were analyzed. Infants' electrocardiogram (ECG) were recorded, sleep state documented and blood pressure during sleep was measured. Heart rate variability (HRV) was calculated with spectral analysis of R,R intervals. Results: The smoking mothers exposed their infants to nicotine in milk with a median nicotine concentration of 47 (8,192) ,g/L. Analysis of infants' urine showed that the nonsmoking group had 0.8 (0,5.2) and the smoke group 60 (17,139) ,g cotinine/L (p < 0.01). The frequency domain low-to-high frequency (LF/HF) ratio, was correlated to milk nicotine concentrations in the milk sample, from smoking mothers. HRV decreased, with increasing milk nicotine, ingested by the boys (r =,0.74, p = 0.02) but not the girls (r =,0.13, p = 0.76). The differences of mean arterial pressure between sleep states in the infants, were significantly lower in the smoke group 5.8(6.8) compared to the nonsmoke group 11.5(7.2) mmHg (p = 0.03). Conclusions: Postnatal exposure to nicotine influences autonomic cardiovascular control in infants. [source]