Cow’s Milk-Induced Infant Apnoea

Evolution devised an ingenious way to bond infant to mother. Select for milk proteins that break down into peptides that have opiate-like drug effects. But what if the breastfeeding mother is herself effectively suckling, by still drinking milk as an adult? Evolution never counted on that— which may explain this recent report in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition.

“Cow’s milk-induced infant apnoea with increased serum content of bovine beta casomorphin 5″. That’s one of the opioid compounds formed in our stomachs when we drink milk. Infant apnoea means when a baby stops breathing.

They report a case of a breast-fed infant with recurrent apneic episodes, which have always been preceded by his mother’s consumption of fresh cow’s milk. A biochemical examination has revealed a high level of casomorphin in the child’s blood. They speculate that it is an opioid activity that may have a depressive effect on the respiratory center in the central nervous system, and induce a phenomenon they coin milk apnoea. The reason we‘re so concerned is that about 7% to 10% of infants with recurrent apnoea episodes cannot be saved, and they die of sudden infant death syndrome.

The researchers hooked the kid up to a monitor, and wanted to give him some cow’s milk to provoke a reaction on tape. But the boy’s mother did not grant consent for his oral provocation with cow’s milk, because of her fears for the child’s life. She finally relented, though, and when the boy was four months old, attempted to provoke him with milk—after which the apparent life-threatening event reoccurred. Presently, the 21-month old boy is kept on a milk-free diet and has no more symptoms.

“The aim of the present report,” they conclude, is “to draw researchers’ attention to the possibility of occurrence of a systemic reaction with an apnoea seizure on the infant’s exposure to the proteins in cow’s milk. We are convinced that such a clinical situation occurs rarely; however, it is accompanied by a real threat to the infant’s life that can be avoided when applying a simple and not costly dietetic intervention[: a dairy-free diet].”

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

• Wasilewska J, Kaczmarski M, Kostyra E, Iwan M. Cow's-milk-induced infant apnoea with increased serum content of bovine β-casomorphin-5. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2011 Jun;52(6):772-5. doi: 10.1097/MPG.0b013e318204bbcc.

Images thanks to D Dinneen, Ion Chibzii, and Roshnii via Wikimedia Commons, and Charles Williams, MD, www.scenicreflections.com, and becomethevoice.com.

• animal protein
• apnea
• breast milk
• breastfeeding
• casomorphins
• dairy
• infants
• milk
• SIDS