الفهرس 
BreastfeedingOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 205 |  |  |
| | | from | 205 | | |
Abstract
Breastfeeding is the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from human breasts rather than from a baby bottle or other container. Babies have a sucking reflex that enables them to suck and swallow milk. Most mothers can breastfeed for six months or more, without the addition of infant formula or solid food.
Human breast milk is the most healthful form of milk for human babies .There are a few exceptions, such as when the mother is taking certain drugs or is infected with tuberculosis or HIV. Breastfeeding promotes health, helps to prevent disease and reduces health care and feeding costs .In both developing and developed countries, artificial feeding is associated with more deaths from diarrhea in infants .Experts agree that breastfeeding is beneficial, but may disagree about the length of breastfeeding that is most beneficial, and about the risks of using artificial formulas.
Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and then supplemented breastfeeding for up to one (AAP) or two years or more (WHO). Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life ”provides continuing protection against diarrhea and respiratory tract infection” that is more common in babies fed formula. The WHO and AAP both stress the value of breastfeeding for mothers and children. While recognizing the superiority of breastfeeding, regulating authorities also work to minimize the risks of artificial feeding.
• Infant formula is an artificial substitute for human breast milk, intended for infant consumption . The first preparations for the feeding of infants were produced commercially in 1867 by Justus von Liebig. Today, most infant formulas are based on either cow milk or soy milk. Some formulas, for infants with special dietary needs, are highly modified and may contain neither cow milk nor soy. An upswing in breastfeeding has been accompanied by a deferment in the average age of introduction of other foods (such as cow’s milk), resulting in increased use of both breastfeeding and infant formula between the ages of 3-12 months. Infant formula is necessarily an imperfect approximation of breast milk because:
• The exact chemical properties of breast milk are still unknown.
• A mother’s breast milk changes in response to the feeding habits of her baby and over time, thus adjusting to the infant’s individual growth and development .Breast milk includes a mother’s antibodies that help the baby avoid or fight off infections and give his immature immune system the benefit of his mother’s immune system that has many years of experience with the germs common in their environment.
Atopy is a state of increased sensitivity to common antigen e.g house dust, pollen, animal dander, with increased production of allergen specific IgE. Atopy may have a hereditary component as there is an increased susceptibility to hay fever, asthma and eczema.
Over the past several decades, the incidence of atopic disease such as asthma, dermatitis and food allergies has increased dramatically. The evidence from previous studies does not allow one to conclude that there is a strong relationship between the timing of introduction of complementery foods and development of atopic diseases.
IgE is one of immunoglobulins that play an important role as a mediator of atopic disease .It is typically the least abundant immunoglobulin isotype in blood but it is capable of causing the most powerful immune responses.
Interleukin 4 (IL4) is a critical cytokine in the expression of atopy and allergic diseases, it triggers B cells to produce IgE through its receptor activation. IL4 also induces endothelium to express adhesion molecules that specifically attract eosinophils. Finally, interleukin-4 signals T-Cells to become CD4+type 2 helper cells, which then produce additional IL4 and mediate allergic disease.
The results showed that:
1-Family history of allergy, food allergy or rhinitis is slightly higher among cases with artificial feeding but the difference is not significant statistically.
2- There is no correlation between age in months and IL4, IgE or esinophilic count in the two studied groups.
3-cases that started artificial feeding had a higher mean of IgE and esinophilic count.
4-cases that started weaning after 4 months had a higher mean IgE compared to cases that started weaning earlier.