Bottle Feeding May be Harmful to Infants, May Result to Stomach Obstruction

Babies who are bottle fed and not breast fed are more likely to develop stomach obstruction - a serious risk to their health, according to Today.

The said stomach obstruction can result in projectile vomiting and won't get better without a surgery, a new study claims. The study which was published in JAMA Pediatrics confirms that the risk of developing an obstruction is heightened further when the mother of the infant is much older, Dr. Jarod McAteer, surgical resident at the University of Washington in Seattle said.

Researchers found that babies were at least twice as likely to suffer from hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (HPS) if they were bottle fed continuously. "From a clinician's standpoint, it's just one more study that suggests that breast-feeding is important to the health of a newborn," McAteer said. "Much data beyond this study supports breast-feeding as a much better thing for the infant. Physicians should take it into account and consider whether it's an important enough factor to influence their counseling of patients."

HPS occurs when a thickening of the smooth muscle layer of the pylorus occurs. The pylorus is the passageway between the stomach and the small intestines, according to US News. The only way to get rid of this kind of obstruction is through surgery. Dr. Ben Hoffman, medical director of the Children's Safety Center at Oregon Health & Science University's Doernbecher Children's Hospital said that "pyloric stenosis is a problem that's near, and dear to the hearts of both pediatricians and pediatric surgeons. "Although he wasn't directly involved in the study, Hoffman said that "for a long time, we've accepted that we don't know why it happens. The association between bottle-feeding and pyloric stenosis is certainly intriguing."