Treating Pink Eye With Breast Milk

29 Replies
mia - December 6

did you know that you can treat baby's pink eye (conjunctivitis) with drops of br___tmilk? the power of mother's milk never ceases to amaze me.

 

mia - December 6

actually, oh lord, it was my DOCTOR who told me that. and i checked the web out of curiousity and sure enough, it works most, but not all of the time. "Breastmilk has been used by mothers (probably for many years) to treat infectious conjunctivitis. Secretory IgA is an immunoglobulin, present in colostrum and mature human milk. It has been found to inhibit the adherence or bacteria to mucosal surfaces and limits bacterial colonization of the eye." my daughter's pediatrician said his wife used it on his kids and they didn't have to do antibiotics.

 

mia - December 6

here's another: Treatment of pink eye depends on whether the infection was caused by a virus or bacteria. A bacterial infection is typically accompanied by a pus-like discharge and is generally treated with antibiotic ointment or drops. If the infection is a result of a virus, which is the case with the majority of pink eye infections, antibiotics are not effective in treating it, and the virus that caused the infection will eventually run its course and resolve on its own, requiring no medical attention and causing no damage to the eye itself. Alternatively, as odd as it may sound to some, many b___stfeeding mothers have found that expressing a small amount of b___st milk and dropping it into an infected eye clears up a conjunctivitis infection very quickly. Some medical research has shown that the antibodies in human b___st milk may very well be efficient at clearing these types of infections and few dispute the safety of this practice in general."

 

June - December 7

YEP! It works better than meds. Clears up in a day or two. You can also use it for a stuffy nose.

 

Jamie - December 7

I didn't know that - I knew it was fantastic on diaper rash, but would never have thought to try it on her eyes. What about earaches/infections? Anyone know?

 

Jenn... - December 7

I never knew about the pink eye, but then Blake has not had it either. Anytime he gets a little scratch on his face I put a little fresh b___st milk on it, it clears up very fast! A lactation consultant told me about the healing powers of b___stmilk! Amazing!

 

April1 - December 7

I just read an article about the healing powers of b___stmilk. It can be used for acne, burns and sunburns, chapped lips, cold sores and fever blisters, cuts, sc___pes, scratches, diaper rash, ear infections, red or puffy eyes, insect bites, skin rash/wounds, sore/cracked nipples, sore throats, warts, stuffy noses and pinkeye. Oh Lord - I'm afraid the only one looking dumb is you!

 

Kathryn - December 7

This is wonderful to know!! Thank you.

 

yeap - December 7

My baby's pediatrician told me the same thing too. It is really amazing huh.

 

Christy - December 7

So cool! Now I feel really bad dumping/spilling milk. :)

 

Jamie - December 8

No one claimed that it cured cancer. Also, no one claimed that our "t_ts" as you so crudely put it are magical. Haven't you ever heard of homeopathic medicine? It's what kept the human race healthy for centuries before the industrial boom of the 1800s. I would much rather trust my child's health to a natural remedy that has been used for centuries than to an artificial medication that's only been in use for a few decades. Breast milk might not cure cancer, but it also doesn't have any side effects. Name just one synthetic medication that can claim ZERO side effects.

 

April - December 8

Human Breast Milk Kills Cancer Cells June 30, 1999 (Discover Magazine) - When Catharina Svanborg and her research a__sociates began mixing mothers' milk and cancer cells together seven years ago, she wasn't looking for a cure for cancer; she was after a way to fight germs. Nevertheless, the physician and immunologist at Lund University in Sweden has discovered that a previously taken-for-granted component of ordinary human b___st milk compels cancer cells — every type of cancer cell tested — to die. Now Svanborg must prove her discovery, demonstrating to wary scientists that her surprising find is for real. So far, it hasn't been easy. "It's an extremely important observation, interesting and provocative," says b___st cancer researcher David Salomon of the National Cancer Inst_tute. "But it's novel, and novelty always runs the risk of challenging the current dogma. A lot of times you run up against a brick wall of people who have tunnel vision." It all began seven years ago, when her student Anders Hakansson rushed into Svanborg's office with perplexing news. He had been experimenting with human cancer cells, microbes and mothers' milk. (Cancer cells make popular experimental models because they come in standardized lab strains. In many important respects they behave just like other human cells in lab dishes.) The idea was to pinpoint how the milk blocks bacteria from infecting other cells. But the cancer cells in this experiment were acting up. "Their volume was decreasing," Hakansson recalls. "Their nuclei were shrinking. Something was wrong." When Svanborg sat down at the microscope, she diagnosed the problem immediately. "The cancer cells are committing suicide." Cells commit suicide all the time, a phenomenon called apoptosis, in which the body rids itself of old or unnecessary cells. They simply fall apart and are recycled. For cancer cells, however, suicide is rare indeed. Their defining characteristic is uncontrolled reproduction. Yet somehow, the b___st milk induced these cancer cells to take their own lives. Could the discovery be developed into a cancer cure? Fortunately, much of Svanborg's work has prepared her for this specific research. She and her group had studied the nature and function of epithelial cells, the gut-lining cells that come into contact with b___st milk in nursing infants. And they had experimented with mother's milk many times. They had shown that it does a terrific job of blocking infection by pneumococcus bacteria, the cause of pneumonia, and that b___st-fed children suffer significantly fewer ear and upper respiratory tract infections than babies who don't nurse. And her team had already done much of the homework that would be needed. They had tracked down studies showing that b___st milk also protects against cancer. She wondered what accounted for that discrepancy. Now she had at hand the results that might provide an answer. It took more than two years before her team felt ready to share its discovery with the rest of the world. In August 1995 they announced that b___st milk kills cancer cells and pinpointed the killer, which turned out to be the protein alpha-lactalbumin (alpha-lac for short). It helps produce lactose, the sugar found in milk. Svanborg and her colleagues discovered that the protein was performing the decidedly unprotein-like trick of changing its shape — and that it was persuading cancer cells to commit suicide. The discovery also suggested a possible explanation of how b___st milk protects against cancer. Perhaps, Svanborg reasoned, the errant cells that give rise to malignancies first show up in infants. The key is breakneck reproduction, a characteristic of the cells lining an infant's gut. Some of these cells may proliferate out of control. That's called cancer. Or they may never fully mature or stabilize, lurking in the system like time bombs, ever ready to burst forth into tumors. Transformed alpha-lac "targets not only cancer cells but all kinds of immature, rapidly growing cells, and leaves mature, stable cells alone," Svanborg says. Alpha-lac, then, may be conducting surveillance missions within the nursing child, rooting out potentially malignant cells and encouraging properly growing cells to mature. Because the lining of the gut, a prime meeting point between the inside of the body and the hazards of the outside world, is a headquarters of the immune system, the vigilance may help the child's immune defenses develop. John Stevens, a vice president of grants at the American Cancer Society, took notice. After reading the Svanborg team's research paper, he made a journey to Sweden. "I had not known of Lund University before, but we found Catharina and her team to be very talented researchers, very dedicated, and their work fascinating." A $200,000 grant made Svanborg's the only non-American lab with ACS support. So she got back to work with renewed enthusiasm. "The grant gave us recognition," Svanborg says. "We came into this from nowhere, and the cancer society gave us the stamp of quality. Now the weight was on us to prove that this is real and reproducible." That effort has taken another four years. In January, Svanborg released the team's most recent findings, bolstered by the work of new collaborators, including researchers from the renowned Karolinska Inst_tute in Stockholm and Oxford University in England. The studies explain how transformed alpha-lac snuffs out cancer and other risky cells, and characterizes the protein down to the molecular level. And they announced that not only does it kill cells, it eliminates pneumococcus bacteria, too. Svanborg, with her longstanding interest in infectious disease, is as excited about this finding as any. She envisions using alpha-lac as a tonic to stop infections before they begin. The team has given the new protein a name: HAMLET for Human Alpha-lactalbumin Made LEthal to Tumor cells. They now know just how the protein changes into a cancer a__sa__sin. One key is the acid content of its surroundings. When Svanborg initially prepared milk to pour over cells, she added acid to the solution, hoping to separate out the microbe blockers. Little did she know that this acid bath, like some magic potion, would transform the well-mannered alpha-lac into HAMLET. But acid alone wasn't enough. Another mysterious factor was needed. That, too, turned out to be a component of the milk itself. (The lab has not yet made its ident_ty public). Now that the team can generate genetically engineered HAMLET, they can make changes in it, helping them learn the function of its structural parts. The first step is to test HAMLET as a tumor killer in animals. Svanborg and her team hope that because HAMLET is a naturally occurring substance, it might not be toxic like so many other cancer drugs. They've already tried it in mice, who tolerate very high doses with no side effects. If animal tests go well, the next trials will be with humans. That can take years. And then, says Svanborg, "A major pharmaceutical company must become convinced that this is worth their investment. But if we can demonstrate that HAMLET works, I think no major company would be able to refuse." Copyright 1999 Discover Magazine. All rights reserved.

 

April - December 8

I'll claim it's possible. Why not try something natural first? There's no harm in trying it. It's a lot smarter than running to the doctor for penicillin everytime your kids get a cold.

 

Jamie - December 8

I stand corrected! Maybe our magical t_ts DO cure cancer! Is that why b___stfeeding reduces the likelihood of b___st cancer in the momma?

 

kate - December 8

probably, jamie. and in the baby too - isn't the chance of getting cancer reduced for bf infants too? seems like i read that somewhere.

 

Jamie - December 8

I dunno...I might just have to look it up. Makes me glad I'm giving my girl momma's magic milk. :)

 

K - December 8

my son gets chapped lips and i rub b___stmilk on them to clear it up.

 

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