Breastfeeding may not trigger postpartum IBD flare
Source: American Journal of Gastroenterology 2005; 100: 102-5

Assessing the association between breastfeeding and postpartum 
disease activity among women with inflammatory bowel disease.

Breastfeeding is unlikely to be responsible for the flare in disease 
activity noted in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients in the 
postpartum period, research suggests.

As breastfeeding has been linked with an increased risk of postpartum 
disease in other autoimmune disorders, Sunanda Kane and Nicole 
Lemieux (University of Chicago, Illinois, USA) examined the 
association between breastfeeding behavior and postpartum IBD 
activity among 122 patients.

Analysis of their medical records revealed that 54 of these women had 
breastfed their child. Forty-three percent of the breastfeeders 
experienced a postpartum flare of their disease, compared with just 
19 percent of those who did not breastfeed (odds ratio = 2.2).

Despite this apparent association, however, the majority (74 percent) 
of women who breastfed had stopped taking their medications prior to 
breastfeeding, and once adjusted for medication cessation, the OR for 
disease activity (OR = 1.3) with breastfeeding became nonsignificant.

"Any relationship between breastfeeding and disease activity may be 
more a consequence of discontinuation of IBD therapies," Kane and 
Lemieux therefore postulate.


http://www.obgynworld.com/international/news/2005/Week_01/Day_4/Breastfeeding_may_no.asp

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