Can breastfeeding really cure all?

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I am confused by some of the claims made about the benefits of breastfeeding. (Especially the link made to curing cancer on recent program) A friend of mine exclusively breastfed until 6 months and her daughter has all sorts of awful allergies and excema, I also breastfed and my baby caught the same bugs as everyone else. Yes its best for mother and baby, yes its wonderful but I think that some of the advice and information given about the supposed benefits can be exaggerated.

'no-one is rude to ff-ers on MN. find some links to prove it'

it was just that comment I was responding to, Tiktok, I know we're not flooded with negativity, but it only takes one comment to upset someone (whether it be about stereotyping f'feeders as chavvy, or calling someone a b'feeding nazi).

I only put links to those posts because they were comments that had stuck in my mind (Sabire's was only 4 months ago BTW).

Sorry to have veered off topic, by jumping in!

ok hazey jane i should have been more careful how I phrased my post. There is an underlying assumption that there is an army of BF nazis on MN that are just waiting to pounce on the first poor soul who mentions that she is thinking of ff her child (whether because bf is not going well, or otherwise).
That is not the case. As with anything on the internet there will be some nutter who feels the need to leap on and say something inappropriate but the MAJORITY of MNers (and certainly the ones who are 'known' for their infant feeding advice) would not do that - it is unhelpful, inappropriate and they know that better than anyone. Each single example of rudeness to ffers can be countered with 10 threads of help and support to someone who is starting to give formula as struggling with bf.

But then there are threads that are specifically to discuss research around bf and ff, and there will always be plenty of people joining to say "Stop talking about this, you're making people who had no choice but to ff feel bad"

-If the risks of ff were more widely understood
-If the fact that bf is physiologically 'normal' was widely accepted
-If the cost to the NHS and public health of majority ff could be calculated

Then we'd be well on the way to changing culture and implementing training and changes to care that may mean that our bf rates increase to match those of other countries, where most women can and do breastfeed, and those that can't or choose not to don't feel 'guilty'

Why would anyone have a probem with that?

or a problem even?

Thats why I asked
"is it (the research) for use in the promotion of breastfeeding, or in the hopes of making formula 'closer to breastmilk'"

because I thought that the majority of women do start out b'feeding (so they are getting the message that breastfeeding is the best start in life for their babies), but give up very quickly, so I wonder if the best research would be into why this happens, and how women could be helped in these circumstances.(eg in my case someone who could recognise thrush, a tongue tie and an appalling latch!)

I do want to get involved in discussions like these, (whether I feel guilty or not)because I think it would be good if the women who 'failed' at b'feeding could be involved in research that might enable other women to succeed.

God that was garbled, I hope I made some sense!

hazyjane, sorry, I got the date on Sabire's post wrong, but I still maintain rude comments about ff are very rare indeed on mumsnet.

You ask about the motives of research - well, there are many motives and the uses it is put to are very variable.

There is a great deal of research into why mothers give up quickly, and how they could be helped. In fact, I would go as far as to say we know quite a lot already about what helps mothers maintain breastfeeding, and what hinders it.

We have different sorts of research - the big surveys that ask women 'why and when did you stop' with sort of ticky-box answers (the five-yearly Infant Feeding surveys are an example of this) and the so-called qualitative research that asks a smaller number of women for more in depth accounts of what happened. The surveys reveal that women stop early for (mostly) sore nipples, perceptions of insufficient milk, baby unsettled. The in depth stuff shows the details of the experience: conflicting advice and lack of help with problems from HCPs, poor support for breastfeeding from family, friends and others, a belief that formula is just as good.

Also, research to quantify the cost of illness caused by formula feeding has been carried out, I borrowed the book it was cited in and have given it back now but I remember clearly that if only 10 UK towns acheived a breastfeeding rate of 97% then the NHS would save £160 million pounds.