More say formula is ‘as good as’ breast milkNEW YORK (Reuters Health) — A growing number of Americans incorrectly believe that infant formula is as good as breast milk, while more are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with mothers breast-feeding their infants in public, the CDC said.“The findings underscore the need to educate the general public that breast-feeding is the best method of feeding and nurturing infants,” Dr. Rowe Li and colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta write in the January issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Li and her team note that while health experts recommend infants be breast fed for at least a year, and receive breast milk alone until they reach six months of age, the percentage of US infants exclusively breast fed at six months is 14 percent, while just 18 percent continue to receive breast milk at 12 months of age.

The same survey, conducted in 2004, found 71 percent of children had ever been breast fed.

To investigate public attitudes towards breast-feeding, which play a key role in whether a woman decides to initiate and persist with breast-feeding, Li and her team compared results from two nationwide surveys conducted in 1999 and 2003 by the public relations firm Porter Novelli.

In 1999, 14.3 percent of those surveyed agreed that “infant formula is as good as breast milk,” compared to 25.7 percent in 2003, the researchers found.

And there was a small increase in the percentage of people who agreed with the statement that “mothers who breast-feed should do so in private places only,” from 34.8 percent to 37 percent.

The percentage who said they were comfortable being near a mother breast-feeding her infant in public fell from 49.9 percent to 48.1 percent.

While rates of breast-feeding among US mothers have been on the rise since 1990, Li and her team note, the percentage of women who started breast-feeding fell for the first time between 2002 and 2003, from about 70 percent to 66 percent.

“The findings imply that despite widespread information on the benefits of breast-feeding, the trend in national opinion might be that infant formula is as good as breast milk,” Li and her colleagues state.

This may at least in part be due to the introduction of formulas that contain long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in 2002, the researchers note, which have been advertised as “mimicking the positive influence of breast milk” on brain and vision development. Also, the researchers note, spending on advertising for infant formula rose from $29 million in 1999 to $46 million in 2004.Cough remedies may be lethal to infantsNEW YORK (Reuters Health) — After investigating the deaths of three infants between one and six months of age linked to cough and cold medication use, officials with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are emphasising that these drugs should be used only after talking with a physician.Between 2004 and 2005, approximately 1,500 children younger than 2 years old were treated in US emergency departments for adverse events associated with cough and cold medications, Dr. A. Srinivasan and colleagues at the CDC note in the January 12th issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

For each of the three dead infants, a medical examiner or coroner determined that the cough and cold medications were the underlying causes of death.

Blood levels of the decongestant pseudoephedrine at autopsy ranged from 4700 to 7100 ng/mL, compared with blood levels of 180 to 500 ng/mL normally expected after therapeutic dosing in children between two to 12 years old.

Because of the risk of toxicity, the lack of dosing instructions, and the scarcity of published evidence on effectiveness of these medications in children younger than two years old, the authors advise that “parents and other caregivers should not administer cough and cold medications to children in this age group without first consulting a health-care provider and should follow the provider’s instructions precisely.”

In an editorial note, the CDC adds that the results of controlled trials indicate cough and cold medications are no more effective than placebo in children younger than 2 years of age.

Furthermore, the American College of Chest Physicians in 2006 released clinical practice guidelines for management of cough, advising clinicians to refrain from recommending cough suppressants for this age group.

Safer and probably more effective treatments for young patients’ symptoms include softening nasal secretions with saline nose drops or a cool-mist humidifier, then clearing nasal congestion with a rubber suction bulb.Spinal manipulation may not be safe for kidsNEW YORK (Reuters Health) — A new research review suggests that chiropractic spinal adjustments in children carry a risk of injury, with sometimes severe consequences.Though researchers found only a handful of serious injuries among 13 published studies, they believe that there’s still too little known about the safety of spinal manipulation in children.

Until more is learned, they suggest that parents be cautious about seeking this therapy for their children.

The review, which is published in the journal Pediatrics, included 13 reports published in the medical literature. Only two were based on clinical trials that tested the effects of spinal manipulation on children; the rest were reports on individual cases of injuries. In all, the researchers found 14 significant injuries, nine of which were serious, and two children died.

In one of the fatal cases, the child died from a brain haemorrhage after receiving a neck manipulation; in the other, the child died after a suspected neck fracture. Some children suffered paralysis, while others had less serious or minor problems, such as severe headache and back pain. A chiropractor performed the adjustments in most cases, though other health professionals — including medical doctors, physical therapists and osteopaths — sometimes offer the therapy.

“I think parents should consider potential risks and potential benefits when making treatment decisions for their children,” Dr. Sunita Vohra of the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada told Reuters Health.