Posted on 02/11/2025 8:28:11 PM PST by ConservativeMind
Years ago, a young patient's mother told Emily McCourt, MD, that she hadn't used a prescribed ointment to treat her baby's chemical corneal burn but instead used her own breast milk.
"I remember thinking, 'Well, that's interesting because this patient looks amazing," McCourt recalls. "Then, I thought about all my patients who said they've used breast milk in their baby's eyes for blocked tear ducts and rashes."
A recent study found that human breast milk used on wounded corneas in animal models experienced increased re-epithelialization, a part of the wound healing process, compared to a saline solution and a prescription medication.
"Back in 2016, we found that human breast milk seemed to enhance the healing of the cornea, but we didn't really have any mechanistic insight to that," Petrash says.
The research measured a marker of cell proliferation called Ki67, a protein that's produced in cells that are actively dividing. They discovered that the wounded eyes treated with human breast milk had higher levels of Ki67, a nod of legitimacy to what McCourt saw in the clinic years prior.
Quick recovery is crucial in these kinds of eye injuries because it prevents infection that may cause further damage to the eye. "The sooner that wound can heal, the better," Petrash says. "Human breast milk seems to stimulate that process."
It's unclear what ingredients in breast milk may be contributing to quick recovery, but McCourt believes it's possible that breast milk could have similar properties as serum tears, a medication made from centrifuging a patient's own blood to separate the serum, which is then sterilized and bottled.
The serum contains components, including proteins and growth factors, that are similar to natural tears, making it an effective treatment for some patients with severe dry eye and inflammatory eye diseases.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
WOW
made me think of a joke
man, last nite i slept like a baby
every two hours
i woke up screaming
for a tittie to suck on
When we arrived in Papua, Indonesia 30 years ago there was a scourge of pink eye making its way through the communities. We heard the way people of the interior treated it was by having a nursing mother squirt some milk into the infected eyes every few hours. It could be expelled and saved for treatment, but “fresher was better.”
Weird, but plausible.
I’m just here for the comments…
What do toy trains and boobs have in common?
They are both meant for little boys, but their dads always want to play with them.
Hey pretty mama, want to help me heal my cornea?
Correct! We used the same treatment in Jakarta for my grandson’s conjunctivitis. A young lady with an infant across the road was happy to donate.
It worked much better that the treatment advised by folk in Balikpapan back in the eighties i.e., a squirt of lemon juice in the eye.
I suspect it goes beyond aiding eye recovery because there is a cottage industry of human milk sales to elite athletes.
Is there an Rx for it? Heh.
I have been cured of corneal degradation by off-label use of Rhopresso applied daily for a week, then once weekly. It is a glaucoma medication, but in small doses promotes stem cell growth according to my doctor. Imaging of the corneas initially showed cell density in my left eye to be nil, and low in my right eye.
I was unable to read and had minimal driving vision with my left eye and some degradation in my right, getting worse with time (this happening over a couple of years). My vision is now comparable in both eyes after several weeks of treatment, and probbly as good as can be expected for someone of my age.
Almost as if some divine spirit gave females the ability to produce something healthy and nourishing for their offspring.
Older men much thankful
Drops? Ointment?
Glad to hear you’ve made progress.
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