PUNE: The breast milk of mothers, who faced complications during
pregnancy, have found to have factors that brace the child in combating
diseases
in later life, say scientists of Interactive Research School for Health
Affairs (IRSHA).
After decoding fatty acid compositions of breast milk from pre-eclamptic
(pregnancy induced hypertension) mothers, scientists at IRSHA have
discovered that their (pre-eclamptic mother's) milk have a high level of
docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid as compared to normal
mothers. This DHA helps children fight diseases like hypertension, attention
deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and other mental health disorders in
later life.
"We have found a high level of DHA in the pre-eclamptic mothers' breast milk
that help the children in fighting hypertension and mental disorders," said
scientist Sadhana Joshi, who carried out the study along with other IRSHA
scientists Anitha Killari, Kamini Dangat and Hemalata Yadav.
In developing countries like India, pregnancy complications and adverse
fetal growth cases are rising at an alarming rate. Thus, there is a need to
understand the role of essential fatty acids in breast milk. "The fatty acid
composition of human milk has not been well studied so far. The IRSHA has
examined the levels of fatty acids in breast milk from 50 pre-eclamptic
mothers, 45 women with pre-term babies and compared with breast milk of 84
normal delivery cases," said Prabhakar Ranjekar, the IRSHA's director.
"The results have indicated that DHA concentrations were higher in pre-eclamptic
mothers as well as in pre-term babies' mothers. This was observed despite
lower plasma docosahexaenoic acid levels in the mother. A high level of DHA
suggests that such mothers have an adaptive mechanism to provide more DHA to
their babies," said Joshi.
He said that the omega-3 fatty acids are transferred to the fetus primarily
during the period of rapid growth in the last trimester of pregnancy, which
is also a period of extensive brain growth. "These fatty acids cannot be
synthesized by infants and must be supplied through placental transport to
the fetus and human milk or milk substitute formulae to the infant," said
Joshi.
The omega-3 fatty acids are mainly required for brain and retinal
development. "Deficiency of these fatty acids results in various mental
disorders such as ADHD in children and schizophrenia and mental depression
in later life. "Our results highlight the need to breast feed infants born
to pre-term or pre-eclamptic mothers in order to reduce the risk of
developing various mental disorders, said Joshi.
Ranjekar added, "The study can be used as a guide for pharma companies which
manufacture infant milk formulae."
