DIET FOR HEALTH: Benefit

Showing posts with label Benefit. Show all posts

Monday, May 27, 2013

Some Newborns Benefit From Early Formula, Helping Mothers To Breastfeed Longer

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;??Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 14 May 2013 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Some Newborns Benefit From Early Formula, Helping Mothers To Breastfeed Longer
not yet rated

Recent public health efforts have focused extensively on reducing the amount of formula babies are given in the hospital after birth. But in the first randomized trial of its kind, researchers at UC San Francisco have found that giving small amounts of formula in the first few days of life to infants experiencing high levels of early weight loss actually can increase the length of time their mothers end up breastfeeding.

"Until now, we haven't explored if it is possible to identify babies who might benefit from early formula use. This study provides the first evidence that early limited formula (ELF) can provide important benefits to some newborns," said lead author Valerie Flaherman, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of pediatrics and epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF and a pediatrician at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. "Based on our findings, clinicians may wish to consider recommending the temporary use of small amounts of formula to new moms whose babies are experiencing significant early weight loss."

Study findings are published online by the journal Pediatrics, and will appear in an upcoming print issue of the journal.

"Formula use has the potential to be a slippery slope to breastfeeding discontinuation, but ELF is a different way to envision using it," said Flaherman. "Rather than giving full bottles of formula that make it hard for the baby to return to the breast, ELF is a small amount of supplementation with a clear end point that alleviates some of the stress new mothers feel about producing enough milk."

Breastfeeding is known to offer wide-ranging preventive health benefits for babies, reducing their risk for infections and allergies, and providing the perfect balance of nutrients to help infants grow into strong and healthy toddlers. The American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends that healthy mothers and infants should breastfeed exclusively for the first six months for maximum health benefits.

Women do not immediately produce high volumes of milk after childbirth. Instead, at first mothers secrete small amounts of colostrum, which contains high concentrations of nutrients and antibodies for the baby. During this period, babies often lose weight and new mothers may be concerned that their babies appear fussy or hungry. "Many mothers develop concerns about their milk supply, which is the most common reason they stop breastfeeding in the first three months," said Flaherman.

"But this study suggests that giving those babies a little early formula may ease those concerns and enable them to feel confident continuing to breastfeed," she said.

The study enrolled 40 full-term newborns between 24-48 hours old who had lost more than 5 percent of their birth weight. The babies were randomly assigned either to receive early limited formula (ELF), which consisted of one-third of an ounce of infant formula by syringe following each breastfeeding, or to continue with their intention to breastfeed exclusively. . So as not to interfere with breastfeeding 8 to 12 times a day, the ELF babies were only given small amounts of formula. The syringe was used to avoid the babies developing nipple confusion - when a baby develops a preference for a bottle nipple over the breast. The ELF babies stopped the formula when their mothers began producing mature milk, approximately two to five days after birth.

At the one week assessment, all the babies in both groups were still breastfeeding. However, only 10 percent of the ELF babies had received formula in the last 24 hours, compared with 47 percent of the control group.

After three months, 79 percent of the babies in the study who received early limited formula in the first days of life were still breastfeeding, compared with 42 percent of the babies who did not receive early limited formula. Additionally, 95 percent of the babies who received limited formula in the first few days were breastfeeding to some extent at three months, compared with 68 percent of the babies who did not receive early limited formula.

While impressed with the results of this small study, the authors urged caution in interpreting their results. "It will be important to see whether these results can be confirmed in future, larger studies and in other populations," said senior author Thomas Newman, MD, MPH, a professor of pediatrics and epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF and a pediatrician at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital.

The authors stress that the goal of this study is to help babies breastfeed for a longer duration, because breastfeeding is the best method for feeding infants. For some infants with high, early weight loss, this small study is the first to suggest that infant formula used at just the right time, in limited amounts, may help achieve the goal of long-term breastfeeding.

"The results of this study are provocative and challenge conventional wisdom," said James Taylor, MD, medical director for the University of Washington Medical Center's Newborn Nursery, who was unaffiliated with the study. "It is crucial that we have more randomized controlled trials on interventions to increase breastfeeding rather than relying on heavily confounded observational studies or biased expert opinion."

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our women's health / gynecology section for the latest news on this subject. Co-authors include Janelle Aby, MD of the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford University; Anthony Burgos, MD, MPH, of the Department of Pediatrics, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Downey, CA; Kathryn Lee, RN, PhD of the Department of Family and Community Nursing at UCSF; and Michael Cabana, MD, MPH of the Department of Pediatrics at UCSF.
The research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Children Health and Human Development.
University of California - San Francisco Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA

University of California - San Francisco. "Some Newborns Benefit From Early Formula, Helping Mothers To Breastfeed Longer." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 14 May. 2013. Web.
19 May. 2013. APA

Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.

'Some Newborns Benefit From Early Formula, Helping Mothers To Breastfeed Longer'

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

All opinions are moderated before being included (to stop spam)

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

View the original article here

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Children With Heart Defects May Benefit From Carnitine Supplement

Main Category: Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;??Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 11 May 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Children With Heart Defects May Benefit From Carnitine Supplement
4 stars

A common nutritional supplement may be part of the magic in improving the survival rates of babies born with heart defects, researchers report.

Carnitine, a compound that helps transport fat inside the cell powerhouse where it can be used for energy production, is currently used for purposes ranging from weight loss to chest pain.

New research shows it appears to normalize the blood vessel dysfunction that can accompany congenital heart defects and linger even after corrective surgery, said Dr. Stephen M. Black, cell and molecular physiologist at the Vascular Biology Center at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University.

"My hope is this is going to have a major, major impact on survival of babies," Black said. About half the babies born with heart defects have excessive, continuous high pressure on their lungs from misdirected blood flow. Early surgery can prevent full-blown pulmonary vascular disease, but scientists are finding more subtle disruptions in the signaling inside blood vessels walls that can be problematic - even deadly - up to 72 hours after surgery.

The good news is the changes are reversible and that carnitine speeds recovery and can even prevent the damage in a lamb model of these human heart defects, according to studies published in the journal Pediatric Research.

Normally, most blood flow bypasses the lungs in utero when the placenta provides blood and oxygen for the baby. Baby's first breaths naturally expand the lungs and blood vessels, activating a process inside the lining of vessels that enables them to accommodate the initial blood surge, then reduce pressure quickly, dramatically and permanently.

This natural transition doesn't occur when heart defects misdirect blood flow. "It's kind of like a chronic fetal-to-newborn transition," said Black, the study's corresponding author. Lungs get pounded with about three times the normal flow and, even when surgeries are done as early as possible to repair the defect, correct blood flow and protect the lungs, the 20 percent death rates from acute pulmonary hypertension have remained unchanged for a decade. "That's 1 in 5 kid (with this condition)," Black said.

Left unchecked, the barrage thickens blood vessels, making them unresponsive, much like those of an elderly individual who has lived for years with uncontrolled high blood pressure. The comparatively brief periods of pounding these babies experience impairs the ability of the endothelial cells, which line blood vessels, to produce nitric oxide, a major dilator of blood vessels.

The shear force disrupts carnitine homeostasis, weakens the mitochondria (the cell powerhouse) and impairs nitric oxide production. To make bad matters worse, the precursor to nitric oxide instead makes more peroxynitrite, prompting endothelial cells to grow and thickening blood vessels. Black was also corresponding author of a recent study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry that showed peroxynitrite does this by turning on the cell survival protein kinase Akt1.

The new study indicates that even without fixing the heart defect, high daily doses of carnitine in the first four weeks of life can prevent endothelial dysfunction. In fact, the laboratory lambs' ability to make nitric oxide is preserved even without the benefit of heart surgery and the responses to the chemical activity that enables blood vessel dilation is normalized, Black said.

Study co-author Dr. Jeffrey Fineman, a whole-animal physiologist and physician at the University of California, San Francisco, developed the model, a lamb whose four-chambered heart is very similar to humans. In utero surgery that misdirects too much blood to the lungs, means that, like children, the lambs are born with the defect.

Black is now working with Fineman, who is pursuing additional funding to resolve questions such as the optimal dosage and timing for giving carnitine. "Do you want to give it for six weeks when you only have to give it for six hours?" Black said. The researchers also plan to examine carnitine homeostasis in the blood of children with heart defects to see if it's disrupted. If it is, they plan to start clinical trials.

About 1 in 125 babies are born with a heart defect each year in the United States, according to the March of Dimes.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our cardiovascular / cardiology section for the latest news on this subject. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Foundation Leducq and the American Heart Association.
Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report: