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Human breast milk ice cream - XMRV risk?

S

Sasha

Fine, thank you
Messages
17,863
Location
UK
I'm not kidding, just read this story on Yahoo news about ice-cream made from human breast milk being served at 14 a go at a London restaurant. Women are paid for their breast milk and, according to the article, "To uphold health standards, lactating women undergo health checks the same as those run by hospitals to screen blood donors." In other words, the same checks that aren't looking for XMRV, let alone other undiscovered viruses.

Is breast milk a possible transmission route for XMRV? Is this a public health risk?
 
E

eric_s

Senior Member
Messages
1,925
Location
Switzerland/Spain (Valencia)
For Christ's sake, ME/CFS is already enough for me, could the rest of the world stop going crazy for a second, so we can try to maintain some sanity? From what place did those people escape? :Sign Please:

I wouldn't want to live in Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia, but sometimes i think some people are not made for freedom...

If they are crazy, please be crazy at home...
 
Mya Symons

Mya Symons

Mya Symons
Messages
1,029
Location
Washington
That is really disgusting. Why would someone eat something like that? There are probably a lot of things that can be passed on from breast milk.

My daughter was born premature in 1991. The hospital she was born in had a breast milk sharing program for those women who could not breast feed there babies for some reason. They asked me if I wanted to join, and I said no. Thinking back on it, I still can't figure it out. Did they know about HIV being in breast milk at that time? If so, why would they do that?
 
Enid

Enid

Senior Member
Messages
3,309
Location
UK
Can't believe this madness Sasha - quite amazed the CMO has not stepped in already.
 
Enid

Enid

Senior Member
Messages
3,309
Location
UK
Nothing taken "personal" eric - we know UK's idiots/boors here only too well. !
 
S

Sasha

Fine, thank you
Messages
17,863
Location
UK
What worries me about this, even if XMRV didn't exist, is that people who receive donated blood do so to save their lives. There is a risk with accepting even screened blood because of the possibility that viruses that aren't being tested for are present, which is how so many haemophiliacs got infected with HIV before HIV was known about and screened for. It's risk/benefit - you wouldn't accept a blood transfusion unless you had a very serious medical need.

But, is breast milk a likely vector for XMRV transmission? Do we know? I don't know anything about the possible transmission of viruses through breast milk in general.
 
Enid

Enid

Senior Member
Messages
3,309
Location
UK
Also worried Sasha by the denial of any infectious agents in my NHS tests and yet hear Kenny de Meileir does find them in his tests - the very basis of his treatments. Can only gather ours (UK) are simply "not up to the job".
 
justy

justy

Donate Advocate Demonstrate
Messages
5,524
Location
U.K
Mya Symons said:
That is really disgusting. Why would someone eat something like that? ?
Click to expand...

And yet we are all quite happy to eat ice cream made from the breastmilk of a cow! this is such weird thinking. Are you seriously suggesting that breast milk is disgusting - do you know about the state of formula milk that peopel fee to their bables or the amount of suffering, drugs, chemicals and pus that goes into our daily pint?

Geez get real. I.5 million children die every year in the world simply because they are not breastfed. I have worked hard for years for no pay as a breastfeeding counsellor and advocate so that more babies may benefit from their mothers breastmilk and this kind of talk is what causes so many issues. Yes i know that human milk ice cream may seem weird to some and not what you would want, but all donated milk is screened for pathogens and for use in special care baby units is heat treated in the same way cows milk is so that it is safe.
 
justy

justy

Donate Advocate Demonstrate
Messages
5,524
Location
U.K
eric_s said:
It's great but it's intended mainly for babies, i thought...
Click to expand...

Yep, sorry, getting carried away with my rant. But equally cows milk is meant for calves. Personally i dont mind who drinks what milk, just dont like to hear it talked of as disgusting thats all.
 
justinreilly

justinreilly

Senior Member
Messages
2,498
Location
NYC (& RI)
I just switched from doggy "yellow snow" slushies to human "yellow snow."

Also I drink mouse sweat instead of water, more electrolytes.

Should I be concerned?
 
justinreilly

justinreilly

Senior Member
Messages
2,498
Location
NYC (& RI)
eric_s said:
It's great but it's intended mainly for babies, i thought...
Click to expand...

I think Justy brought up some good points. Cow's milk is made for their babies. Human milk is theoretically better for humans than cow's milk because the latter is made for calves, not humans. Plus it's pasteurized. and some people drink unpasteurized goat's milk (though there is debate as to the health pluses and minuses there). I assume pasteurization destroys viruses. right?
 
Mya Symons

Mya Symons

Mya Symons
Messages
1,029
Location
Washington
justy said:
And yet we are all quite happy to eat ice cream made from the breastmilk of a cow! this is such weird thinking. Are you seriously suggesting that breast milk is disgusting - do you know about the state of formula milk that peopel fee to their bables or the amount of suffering, drugs, chemicals and pus that goes into our daily pint?

Geez get real. I.5 million children die every year in the world simply because they are not breastfed. I have worked hard for years for no pay as a breastfeeding counsellor and advocate so that more babies may benefit from their mothers breastmilk and this kind of talk is what causes so many issues. Yes i know that human milk ice cream may seem weird to some and not what you would want, but all donated milk is screened for pathogens and for use in special care baby units is heat treated in the same way cows milk is so that it is safe.
Click to expand...

Just saw this. I breast fed my daughter. Actually I had to use a pump because I had some problems. It is eating or drinking other peoples breast milk that grosses me out. Who knows where that person has been and what they have been doing. Too each is own, I guess. I guess they could say I'm germy because I have CFS, but I wouldn't share my breast milk with them.
 
anne_likes_red

anne_likes_red

Senior Member
Messages
1,103
Mya Symons said:
Just saw this. I breast fed my daughter. Actually I had to use a pump because I had some problems. It is eating or drinking other peoples breast milk that grosses me out. Who knows where that person has been and what they have been doing. Too each is own, I guess. I guess they could say I'm germy because I have CFS, but I wouldn't share my breast milk with them.
Click to expand...

Mya, I had to use a pump too....I was so determined to do what was "best". I've heard of other CFSers having troubles breastfeeding. In my case it was an oxytocin issue I think - perhaps tied up with the HPA axis disruption often seen in ME/CFS?
 
Mya Symons

Mya Symons

Mya Symons
Messages
1,029
Location
Washington
anne_likes_red said:
Mya, I had to use a pump too....I was so determined to do what was "best". I've heard of other CFSers having troubles breastfeeding. In my case it was an oxytocin issue I think - perhaps tied up with the HPA axis disruption often seen in ME/CFS?
Click to expand...

Hi Anne. I am not sure what the initial problem was. Nothing worked right and I developed a really nasty case of Mastitis (105 degree fever mastitis). That is when the hosptial gave me the pump and it worked great. I do not remember reading about oxytocin, but I am trying to get familar with the HPA axis information. Unfortunately, right now it is hard to understand. Maybe after I get some sleep it will make sense.:)
 
SilverbladeTE

SilverbladeTE

Senior Member
Messages
3,043
Location
Somewhere near Glasgow, Scotland
then you have the whole lactose/cow milk intolerant issue, and coeliac disease
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactose_intolerance

only some of us Humans are adapted to process cows milk effectively, percentage chance varies on race/ethnic group because of millenia of use/adaption depending on their history/use of herd animals OR not having such, so some communities can be hit real hard with such problems, and hence have to use alternates to milk/cows milk.
man, it'd suck not to enjoy a bowl of cornflakes and milk, sigh...but can be very serious health issue for some poor souls.

Why worry about drinking breast milk in regards to squeamishness/morals?! It's what we as a species are designed to do/use
taken us ages to break out of 2+ centuries of repressive, perverse, sexually deviant attitudes that had made bare flesh, boobs, genitialia, and feeding babies.."evil"...naughty...ILLEGAL, oh FFS, how ridiculous!
jebuz our species is pathetically *insane* when it forms groups, sigh

as poster notes the damn formula crap has cost many MANY lives in Africa, where the scumbag corporations sold it as being "better than mother's milk!"...so mothers used the filthy water in their locales (no deep clean water pumps) to mix their baby formula and what happened? the babies DIED in droves :(
Another reason I despise the corporations, grrr.
Risk from mothers' milk, while more serious due to many diseases such as TB etc...is nothing compared ot the risk of polluted water. Sigh.

And all men know: breast is best! yes indeedy!! :D
(ok, so, I'm a sexist man-pig, hehe)
 
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