Are you feeding your baby like this? There is hope for you
Mothers who used to breastfeed their children were exposed to serious changes related to bone metabolism. This could end in serious injuries and fractures. Scientists from the US have just found a solution to this problem.
During breastfeeding, or lactation, mothers have a high demand for calcium. It is so high that the body also obtains this substance from the mother’s own bone mass. This is normally blocked by estrogen, which is extremely low in the postpartum period. However, the US team pointed to a hormone called CCN3, secreted from the neurons of the arcuate nucleus, which is able to act as a replacement solution during this time.
How did they come across the hormone?
To find this hormone, we first showed that the female-specific, dense bone phenotype derives from a humoral factor that affects bone mass and acts on skeletal stem cells by increasing their frequency and osteochondrogenic potential, we read in an article about the discovery published in Nature. It is this factor that has been identified as CCN3.
It is able to stimulate the activity of human skeletal stem cells, which helps not only in bone remodeling, but also faster fracture repair. Although the observations in this case concern mice, the same situation also occurs in humans. After reducing CCN3 in a specific type of neuron associated with lactation. females lost their bones and were unable to support their offspring on a diet low in calcium. As the scientists indicate, the appropriate use of this hormone in therapy can help stop the process of osteoporosis in breastfeeding mothers
