Date: December 1994
[Summary] ((Paradise, J. L., Elster, B., and Lingshi, T. (1994). Evidence in Infants with
Cleft Lip and Palate that Breast Milk protects against Otitis Media. Pediatrics, 94 (6):
853-860. December 1994))
This study concluded that artificially fed breast milk provides variable protection against
the development of otitis media in infants with cleft palate. The findings also suggested
strongly that in infants with cleft palate, impaired eustachian tube function is not the
only pathogenetic factor in the infants’ initial development of middle-ear effusion
(infection and/or non-infective inflammation – presumably originating in the upper
respiractory tract – playing a substantial, if not primary, role).
For the study, 261
infants were fed cow’s milk or soy formula exclusively (‘FF’ infants), and 54 were fed
breast milk exclusively or in part (‘BMF’ infants). Breast milk was harvested by the mother
and provided via an artificial feeder. Freedom from effusion in one or both ears was found
in only seven (2.7%) of the ‘FF’ infants, but in seventeen (32%) of the ‘BMF’ infants. The
study also suggested that that it was unlikely that the feeding of breast milk for
relatively short periods to infants with cleft palate would substantially restrict their
development of middle-ear disease.
The authors concluded that their findings appeared to
confirm the variable protection by breast milk feeding against otitis media that had been
suggested in several earlier reports. They recommended breast milk feeding for infants with
cleft palate for as much of the first year of life as possible, both on general principles
and in the specific hope of minimising the development of otitis media.
[The full article
is more suited to medical personnel, with a heavy emphasis on medical terminology and
scientific analysis.]
Otitis media is an infection or inflammation of the middle ear. The
infection can be caused by a virus or by bacteria. It may also be accompanied by allergies,
enlarged adenoids, or a cold that causes blockage of the eustachian tube (the connection
between the throat and middle ear). Seventy-five percent of children experience at least one
episode of otitis media by their third birthday. Almost half of these children will have
three or more ear infections during their first 3 years. (US National Institute on Deafness
and Other Communication Disorders)