Abstract: Recent evidence on the beneficial effects of breast feeding were reported in the Proceedings of the American National Academy of Sciences. Research supports the notion that mother's milk contains a vital hormone that is important in the development of a newborn brain and reproductive system. The hormone is gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH), which has been found to be important in regulating adult reproduction. GnRH is produced by specialized nerve cells in the brain and signals the pituitary gland to release hormones which affect the testes and ovaries. Researchers discerned from animal studies that the hormone is part of breast milk, rather than being absorbed from the blood. GnRH is also produced in the placenta during embryonic development; thus a continuous supply of GnRH is provided as a key peptide to the infant during gestation. Professor Yitzhak Koch of the Weizmann Institute in Israel remarked that the occurrence of GnRH during breast feeding cannot be considered coincidental and emphasized the importance of mother's milk for nutrition as well as a stimulator of development physiology. This new research feeding has been hailed by advocates of breast feeding.
Publication Year: 1994
Publication Date: 1994-06-15
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['pubmed']
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