Kuttner and Ratner 1 have undertaken to investigate the work of Theobald Smith to determine the essential nature of colostrum feeding in calves. These investigators were interested in its bearing on infant feeding. Smith showed that colostrum is not alone the chief means for transferring antibodies to the new-born calf. Colostrum also seems to have the important function of protecting the new-born animal against a general invasion by organisms of the bacillus coli group. With this in
Congenital dextrocardia is an exceedingly rare condition (Foggie, Graanboom and Osler), one of us (Moffett) being able to find only 126 cases reported in a review of the literature from the year 1649.The exact cause for this malposition does not seem to be clear, though numerous investigators (Pegrouxothers) have suggested various theories for this abnormality. The most prominent theory (suggested by Fol and Waryuski) is that in the prenatal development of the heart, the right side develops more rapidly than the left and pulls the heart to that side. No theory is sufficiently convincing to explain all cases. Cases of complete transposition of all the organs are numerous, but dextrocardia alone, as in our case, is exceedingly rare. Almost all of the cases of dextrocardia alone that have been reported present symptoms of congenital defects of the heart itself. This has been corroborated by frequent necropsy reports (Ziegler, Fussell, Probyn-Williams, Ewald, Theremin, Keith, Hochsinger and others). It is interesting to note that most of the cases that have been observed are in the male sexour case was that of a male child. The early cases of pure dextro¬ cardia were merely clinical reports, but about the middle of the nine¬ teenth century the first postmortem records appear.
Richardson 1 has proved by statistics that the breast-fed baby has five times the chance for life and health as the artificially fed infant. He believes that every mother, when given intelligent instruction, can nurse her baby indefinitely, providing the breasts are emptied regularly at alternate feedings. The best means of stimulating secretion is by nursing or by rhythmic expression of the milk by the thumb and forefinger, applied just back of the nipple. This procedure should immediately follow the cessation of the nursing. Another method is the use of the breast pump. He finds that laboratory examinations of breast milk are useless unless a twenty-four hour specimen is taken. The so called colic in breast-fed infants is often a hunger symptom, which may be verified by putting the child back on the breast. Eructations of gas during the nursing are caused by air which has filled the stomach previous to the milk. Vomiting may be caused by the automatic return of excess milk, by an air bubble, or by some external physical factor, such as a tight band or sudden jolting.Among the numerous causes for disappearance of breast milk are sudden grief, shock, reappearance of menstruation, severe diarrhea, or physical exhaustion with loss of sleep and weight.Chapin 2 believes that the greatest effort for breast feeding should be made during the first month of life. Important factors in lessening infant mortality are prenatal supervision, natal care, more breast feed¬ ing, baby health stations, improvement in the production of cow's milk, and visiting nurses. The artificially fed infant more frequently develops signs of malnutrition than the breast fed, even if the secre¬ tion is poor.
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