Trudi Szallasi Memorial Scholarship
It is with mixed emotions that we announce the launch of a memorial scholarship in honor of our friend and colleague Trudi Szallasi. Trudi many of you will remember as your tutor for some your Health e-Learning courses, others may recall that she was the highest scorer in the world the year she sat the IBLCE examination, others will know her from her work as a volunteer breastfeeding counselor and member of the Board of the Australian Breastfeeding Association, while others will recall her contribution as a member and President of the Qld branch of the Australian Lactation Consultants Association. From these roles those who did not know her will gather that she was a wonderful woman who committed much of her life to supporting mothers and babies to breastfeed and furthering the education of her colleagues.
Trudi very sadly passed away last year after a battle with breast cancer.
In her memory Health e-Learning is offering an educational scholarship to be awarded this year to an applicant who intends to qualify as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant in either 2010 or 2011. We're pleased we will be able to support another Lactation Consultant to carry on Trudi's passion for breastfeeding through the awarding of this scholarship. For further details of the scholarship and how to apply please go to the Health e-Learning website.
GOLD09 INTERNATIONAL ONLINE CONFERENCE: May 8 - 31
Beat the economic crisis: save all your travel and accommodation costs by attending an international conference from your own home! How? Go to the GOLD09 website now to view the speakers, sign up for the newsletter that will keep you informed of conference happenings and be ready to register soon. CLICK HERE
Registrations for our 3rd annual online conference open on Monday March 9th.
MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND BREASTFEEDING
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disease of the central nervous system affecting mostly women with age of onset between 20 and 50 years. The incidence in the USA is about 1 per 1000, while internationally it is 1 per million. In 1975 Christensen found that lack of breastfeeding resulted in the synthesis of abnormally unstable myelin with a propensity to breakdown during young adulthood resulting in MS. Tarrats (2002) correlated the increase in MS with the decline in breastfeeding in parts of Mexico.
The phospholipids in breastmilk are believed to play a vital role in the myelinization of the CNS. Phospholipids are manufactured in the breast and transferred into the breastmilk.(Harzer 1983)
Women affected with MS are often advised to recommence their medications soon after pregnancy; many women will forego breastfeeding their babies so they can resume their medications. Langer-Gould will be presenting a paper at the American Neurology Conference in April that demonstrates a significantly reduced risk for postpartum relapse when the mother breastfeeds.
Post-partum Relapse Based on Breastfeeding Status:
| Breastfeeding |
Relapse (%) |
| None, or some with supplemental bottle feedings |
87 |
| Exclusively |
36 |
I'll be interested to read more about this when the paper is published. It is good to know though that it appears that exclusive breastfeeding will protect the infant from later developing MS, and it delays a relapse of MS for the mother who already has it. That's a win:win situation.
Christensen JC. (1975) Multiple sclerosis: some epidemiological clues to etiology, Acta Neurol Latinoam 21(1-4):66-85
Tarrats R, Ordonez G, Rios C, Sotelo J. (2002) Varicella, ephemeral breastfeeding and eczema as risk factors for multiple sclerosis in Mexicans, Acta Neurol Scand 105(2):88-94
HEALTH E-LEARNING IN NEW ZEALAND
Health e-Learning will be exhibiting at the New Zealand Lactation Consultants Conference from March 23 - 27. Kiwis please drop by and say hello - everyone else, New Zealand is a great destination for a working holiday! Make plans today to fly over, go to the conference, say hello to us and see a beautiful country.
Until next time,
Enjoy those mothers and babies,
Denise Fisher, IBCLC
denise@health-e-learning.com
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Health e-Matters - March 2009
