SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Mothers' breast milk, known to ward off many infantile illnesses, is being looked at as motherly medicine for ailing adults as well.
The San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News reported that while adult use of breast milk is rare, it is growing at six milk banks across America, each of which serve mother's milk to "dozens" of patients.
The benefits babies get from breast milk have been well documented, ranging from increased immunities to higher intelligence.
Officials at Mother's Milk Bank in San Jose said 28 adults have been served breast milk, on a doctor's prescription, in the past four years to aid the recovery from cancer and other illnesses.
Swedish researchers this year found a compound in mother's milk that kills many skin warts, raising hope of better treating cervical cancer and other diseases caused by the human papilloma virus. The same team earlier found proteins in the milk that seemed to kill cancer cells.
"Still, most doctors are skeptical about the value of breast milk for adults, and mainstream medicine seems to consider it to be on the fringe," the newspaper reported.
