Healing with Breastmilk

Breastmilk has many antibacterial and other healing properties and has been found useful for healing a number of problems.

See also… Human milk banking and other donor milk @

8 Unusual Uses for Breastmilk some of the many healing uses for breastmilk.

Got cancer killers? by Peter Radetsky from Discover Vol. 20 No. 6 (June 1999)

Apoptosis Induced by a Human Milk Protein by A Hakansson, et al. From: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol 92, 8064-8068.

HAMLET – a folding variant of alpha-lactalbumin from human milk that induces apoptosis in tumor cells and kills bacteria. Information from Catharina Svanborg’s Research Group at Lund University in Sweden.

More on HAMLET: Mossberg AK, et al. HAMLET interacts with lipid membranes and perturbs their structure and integrity. PLoS One. 2010 Feb 23;5(2):e9384.

Substance in breast milk kills cancer cells, study suggests. ScienceDaily April 23, 2010

SOME GOOD NEWS – Improvement Without Knives or Rays, by Howard J. Cohen, PhD, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer and used breastmilk as part of his treatment (see section titled “Secret Weapons” and the associated references).

Becoming a Donor to a Human Milk Bank by Lois D. W. Arnold, MPH, IBCLC, from Leaven, Vol. 36 No. 2, April-May 2000, pp. 19-23. This article includes a table that lists clinical uses of donated human milk. “Use of donor milk has shifted in the last 10 years from being used nearly exclusively for premature infants to currently being used for older infants and children with major nutritional or immunological problems, as well as for the occasional adult.”

The Value of Human Milk: Position Paper on Donor Milk Banking from the Human Milk Banking Association of North America

Tables of the antimicrobial factors and microbiological contaminants relevant to human milk banking compiled by Dr. John T. May, PhD. These tables list bacteria, viruses, and parasites that breastmilk kills, inactivates or otherwise protects against.

Immune factors in breastmilk @

Tully MR, Lockhart-Borman L, Updegrove K. Stories of Success: the Use of Donor Milk is Increasing in North America. J Hum Lact. 2004 Feb;20(1):75-77.

“Donor milk has been used to successfully treat a number of medical conditions in infants… human milk may be a lifesaving therapy for infants and young children with unusual medical conditions… Because human milk is the richest source of IgA available, it has been successfully used for immunologically deficient adults as well as infants and children.”

Wiggins PK, Arnold LD. Clinical case history: donor milk use for severe gastroesophageal reflux in an adult. J Hum Lact. 1998 Jun;14(2):157-9.

Arnold LD. Possibilities for donor milk use in adult clinical settings–a largely unexplored area. J Hum Lact. 1996 Mar;12(1):59-60.

Information re: prevention/treatment of eye problems with breastmilk

Ahmed M, Saeed M, Mahmood MA. Role of Topical Human Milk in the Treatment of Neurotrophic Corneal Opacity. Pak J Ophthalmol 2013;29(4):225-230.

Ramsey KH, Poulsen CE, Motiu PP. The in vitro antimicrobial capacity of human colostrum against Chlamydia trachomatis. J Reprod Immunol 1998 Jul;38(2):155-67.

Ibhanesebhor SE, Otobo ES. In vitro activity of human milk against the causative organisms of ophthalmia neonatorum in Benin City, Nigeria. J Trop Pediatr 1996 Dec;42(6):327-9.

Cugalj N, Moore DS. Current considerations in neonatal conjunctivitis. J Nurse Midwifery 1984 May-Jun;29(3):197-204.

Singh M, Sugathan PS, Bhujwala RA. Human colostrum for prophylaxis against sticky eyes and conjunctivitis in the newborn. J Trop Pediatr 1982 Feb;28(1):35-7. This study found that instillation of human colostrum significantly reduced the incidence of chemical conjunctivitis and reduced bacterial colonization of the eye.

Ho PC, Lawton JW. Human colostral cells: phagocytosis and killing of E. coli and C. albicans. J Pediatr 1978 Dec;93(6):910-5.

Investigating Traditional Eye Medicines in Malawi by L. Gagnon mentions use of breastmilk for eye problems