The XI International Breastfeeding Symposium promoted by Medela has ended in Berlin
Ghrelin and leptin, two hormones present in breast milk, are essential for combating excess weight in adulthood
· Both hormones are responsible, from the first moment, for regulating hunger and satiety, in addition to contributing to the baby's growth.
· A study from Brown University, in the United States, demonstrated the benefits of breast milk on brain development. In children fed with breast milk, there was greater growth in areas related to speech, emotions and cognition.
· The XII International Breastfeeding Symposium takes place in Florence (Italy) on April 7th and 8th, 2017
Lisbon, April 18, 2016. - The XI edition of the International Breastfeeding Symposium which Medela promotes annually ended in Berlin (Germany) after two days attended by around 400 professionals from all over the world. The meeting focused on three main axes: the unique and differential components of breast milk, its importance in premature babies and the recent results of basic research studies carried out on breast milk. The twelfth edition of the symposium will take place in Florence (Italy), on April 7th and 8th, 2017.
The unique composition of breast milk opened the symposium to delve into such relevant aspects as: the role of ghrelin and leptin in preventing obesity, the role of oligosaccharides in protecting against infections and how breast milk affects brain growth.
Regarding the role of ghrelin and leptin, Professor Donna Geddes, from the University of Western Australia (Perth), presented the latest results of investigations related to the composition of breast milk that assess the relationship between feeding breast milk and the lower incidence of chronic non-contagious diseases in adulthood, such as obesity. According to Geddes, children who were breastfed are less likely to be overweight in adulthood due, among other factors, to ghrelin and leptin, hormones that participate from the beginning of a child's life in regulating hunger and satiety.
For his part, Professor Lars Bode, from the University of California (San Diego, USA), showed the importance of knowing the quantity and complexity of oligosaccharides that breast milk contains. These sugars play an important role in the healthy growth of the baby as, for example, they protect him against infections caused by bacteria, fungi or parasites that stick to the mucous membranes, intercepting pathogens.
The brain also benefits from breast milk. This statement was demonstrated in the presentation by doctor Sean Deoni, from Brown University (Providence, USA). At the conference, Deoni presented the conclusions of a study carried out on 133 healthy babies born at the end of their term and children between 10 months and 4 years old, divided into groups fed exclusively with breast milk, with breast milk and formula milk, and a last group that only ingested formula milk. This group of children underwent silent magnetic resonance tomography and brain growth was analyzed. In children fed with breast milk, there was greater growth in the areas of the brain responsible for speech, emotions and cognition.
New therapeutic strategies for premature babies: the necessary involvement of the family
Throughout the symposium, a specific area was also dedicated to new therapeutic strategies in neonatology. Matthias Keller, professor and doctor at the Kinderklinik Dritter Orden children's hospital in Passau (Germany), explained the clinical treatment program NeoPAss®, where the entire environment surrounding the baby plays a fundamental role, especially the parents. According to the results provided by the NeoPAss®, Among premature babies under 28 weeks, the number of babies breastfed at the time of hospital discharge increased from 42% to 75% and among premature babies, with a gestational age between 28 and 32 weeks, it increased from 60% to 90%. Furthermore, the time required to ingest food exclusively orally shortened from eleven to seven days and reduced the length of hospital stay and the rate of infections.
Problems for mothers arising from breastfeeding were another of the topics discussed in these conferences. The doctor Juan Miguel Rodríguez, from the Complutense University of Madrid, focused his conference on mastitis and recommending collect breast milk and study its resistance to antibiotics to determine appropriate treatment. Mastitis is a disease that affects around 35% of breastfeeding women and is one of the main causes of breastfeeding cessation. The origin of this pathology is germs, mostly staphylococci, which often do not react to the administration of antibiotics or do not do so sufficiently.
The exhibition by doctor Susanne Herber- Jonat, from the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich (Germany), was abundant in new ways of creating breast milk banks where this liquid was not limited to the usual treatment methods in order to preserve the valuable cells alive. Healthy donors at the Munich breast milk bank express breast milk under the supervision of a lactation consultant in sterile conditions. Subsequently, breast milk is subjected to control, such as blood donations, and is refrigerated without being subjected to heat treatment, for later use.
Improving the composition of breast milk for premature babies is possible
The composition of breast milk and its benefits for premature babies was another topic discussed at the symposium. Two experts on the subject, professors Per Torp Sanglid, from the University of Copenhagen (Denmark), and Josef Neu, from the University of Florida (United States), analyzed the properties of this food for premature babies. In your presentation, Per Torp Sanglid explained that breast milk, without being respectfully treated or sterilized using the UV-C method, has proven to be superior to pasteurized milk in terms of its effect on health and nutrition in its research with piglets.
For his part, Professor Josef Neu explained in his presentation the different compositions of milk (breast milk, donated milk from milk banks and industrially manufactured formula milk) and how these differences should be studied to provide the best possible food for premature babies. He pointed out how recent studies have shown that microorganisms of breast milk come from the mother's gastrointestinal tract and therefore, by applying a specific treatment or diet to the mother, it is possible to influence the composition of these microorganisms that reach the baby.
In his intervention, Thomas Khun (Berlin, Germany) explained the difficulties that very young premature babies have in ingesting breast milk, although he presented the option of facilitating this type of feeding through tubes. Provide the baby with necessary nutrients for its development is a challenge for professionals. It is not enough for premature babies to ingest the maximum possible amount of energy and proteins, as this can promote overweight and infections, as well as metabolic changes. In his presentation he showed the results obtained in different French studies, which highlighted that premature babies fed with breast milk were unable to meet the usual growth expectations during their stay in hospital, but, between the ages of two and five, they already had a higher level of development than children who were not breastfed.