Dear Friends:
    Long-Term Breastfeeding Lowers Mother's Breast Cancer Risk 
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WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) Feb 01 - Women who breastfeed for at least 2 
years cut their risk of developing breast cancer by nearly half compared with 
women who breastfeed for less than 6 months, researchers report. 

The investigators found that the protective effect of breastfeeding applied 
to a woman's risk of developing breast cancer both before and after 
menopause. Previous studies have shown that breastfeeding reduces cancer risk 
only in premenopausal women. 

"The longer duration of lactation — whether it is based on breastfeeding of a 
first child or breastfeeding over a lifetime — leads to a significantly 
reduced risk of breast cancer," Dr. Tongzhang Zheng, from Yale University 
School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, said in a prepared statement. 

Dr. Zheng and colleagues interviewed more than 700 women in China about their 
breastfeeding, menstruation and reproductive histories. Women who breastfed a 
child for more than 24 months had a 54% reduced risk of developing breast 
cancer compared with women who breastfed for no more than 6 months. 

The results, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology for January 
15, also show that women who breastfed for at least 73 months over the course 
of their lives had a much lower risk of breast cancer. 

"These data suggest that prolonged lactation reduces breast cancer risk," the 
authors conclude. 

The researchers speculate that reproductive-cycle hormones linked to some 
forms of breast cancer are suppressed during breastfeeding while protective 
compounds may be released. 

The study also confirmed that later age of menarche and first pregnancy at a 
younger age lowers breast cancer risk. Women who went through menopause later 
and those with a family history of breast cancer were at increased risk. 

Dr. Zheng and colleagues point out that few women in Western countries 
breastfeed for more than 4 months, which may explain why some studies 
conducted in the US indicate that breastfeeding does not influence breast 
cancer risk. 

"In Chinese society, it is socially acceptable to breastfeed for a long 
time," Dr. Zheng said. "And it is considered good for the child." 

Am J Epidemiol 2001;152:1129-1135. 




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Nikki Lee RN, MSN, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CIMI
craniosacral therapy practitioner; childbirth educator
Elkins Park (a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; northeastern USA)
supporting the WHO Code and the Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative

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