A researcher has announced that he has performed experiments that seem to indicate that human milk has substances capable of killing the HIV virus. The news, which circulates through the network, I have not found published in international scientific journals but I promise to be attentive to follow up on the issue.
Dr. Girolamo José Barrera's research has found that there are components in human breast milk called antimicrobial peptides, he explains:
These Peptides, known as natural antibiotics, have a potential use because we have seen that they are capable of killing even the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV, which is the cause of AIDS.
These natural antibiotics have shown, according to Dr. Girolamo José Barrera, to be able to kill the HIV virus under certain conditions that are still being investigated. These substances are also found in the body, in the mucous membranes usually, but they cannot always stop all infections. The fact that they exist in breast milk seems to indicate that they also fulfill a protective function against diseases and infections. His job is precisely to study how to enhance these natural antibiotics and this research is when they have been found as existing in human milk.
HIV can be spread from mother to child through breast milk, although it is not general, and the rate of infection is between 4 and 25%, depending on factors that are still being studied.
For this reason, in countries where a safe and hygienic artificial milk supply cannot be guaranteed, it is recommended that, even in carrier mothers, that in some cases breastfeeding should be advised, since the risk of death is less than if the baby not breastfed because of the risk of infections, diarrhea and malnutrition to which babies are exposed. In those cases, in countries where the mother could not access artificial breastfeeding safely, it is still preferred to indicate to women, in many cases, to breastfeed with some additional recommendations to reduce the rate of infection.
However, if the mother lives in a place with good hygienic conditions and security in the supply of artificial milk, it is recommended to rule out breastfeeding. Therefore, under normal conditions, positive mothers should not breastfeed their children.
Despite this, the one who breast milk possesses substances that attack the HIV virus It may be one of the explanations why transmission is not frequent in this way and also open a field of research that can be very important and reveals the properties of breast milk to protect babies.
Via | Venezuelan Medical Federation
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