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From:
Chris Hafner-Eaton <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 19 Jul 2002 11:11:49 -0800
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In case no one has posted this...I obviously disaggree with Wood's
conclusion that this is not a reason to breastfeed!  What about all of us
who DO bf our kids for 3 years and who have 3 kids!  Look at the cummulative
total, especially if those children were borne the high estrogen years of a
woman's lifespan.  I think this response to an important study shows his
"familiarity" (I'm being kind) with the pharmaceutical companies!
Harrumph!
--Chris Hafner-Eaton, PhD, MPH, CHES, IBCLC    [log in to unmask]
€€€INFANT CUISINE AND MOTHER CARE: LACTATION CONSULTING & PERINATAL CARE€€€

<http://health.yahoo.com/search/healthnews?lb=s&p=id%3A25542>

Here is the text only version:



Breastfeeding Can Reduce A Woman's Risk Of Breast
Cancer 
The Longer A Woman Breastfeeds, The More Protection
She Has 
July 19, 2002 06:05:08 AM PST, ACS News Today
 
Having more babies and breastfeeding longer can reduce
a woman's risk of breast cancer, according to a study
reported in the July 20 issue of The Lancet (Vol. 360:
187-195).

In the most detailed study on the role of
breastfeeding in breast cancer risk, the Collaborative
Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer looked at
47 previous reports of studies conducted in 30
countries. These reports contained information looking
at 50,000 women with breast cancer and almost 97,000
women who did not develop breast cancer.

"Although childbearing is known to protect against
breast cancer, what contribution breastfeeding has on
this protective effect, if any, has been difficult to
determine," the authors said.

Developed Countries Differed From Developing Countries
The report said the average number of births and the
length of time women breastfed their children varied
across countries. The variation was linked to the
small family size and short lifetime duration of
breastfeeding of women in developed countries, such as
the US, the authors said.

In the US the number of pregnant women who have ever
breastfed was 50%, which was the lowest of the
countries studied, the authors reported. In contrast,
more than 90% of the women in Japan who have given
birth have breastfed at some time.

Even more striking was the duration of breastfeeding.
Looking just at women who did not have breast cancer,
the average duration of breastfeeding for women in
developed countries was three months per child.

But, in developing countries such as those in Africa
and Asia, the average duration of breastfeeding was 30
months.

There were several important findings, based on the
authors' detailed analysis of the information.

For women who never breastfed their children, the
report said that each birth reduced a woman' s
individual risk of developing breast cancer by 7%.

For women who breastfed their children compared to
women who never breastfed, a woman' s risk of breast
cancer decreased by a bit more than 4% for each year
during her lifetime that she breastfed her children.

Breastfeeding Alone Gave Reduced Risk
The study also figured out how breastfeeding and
pregnancy would affect the risk of breast cancer in
developed countries, if women had the same number of
births and length of breastfeeding that was found in
developing countries.

The results were powerful: the risk of breast cancer
in developed countries would be cut by more than half
if women had the same patterns of births and
breastfeeding as women in developing countries.

Almost two-thirds of the reduced risk was due to
breastfeeding alone. The rest would be due to the
increased numbers of births.


"These relations are significant and are seen
consistently for women from developed and developing
countries, of different ages and ethnic origins, and
with various childrearing patterns and other personal
characteristics," said the authors. "The short
duration of breastfeeding typical of women in
developed countries makes a major contribution to the
high incidence of breast cancer in these countries."

However, the study also cautions, "To expect that
substantial reductions in breast-cancer incidence
could be brought about today by women returning to the
pattern of childbearing and breastfeeding that
typified most societies until a century or so ago is
unrealistic.

"In the meantime, important reductions in breast
cancer incidence could be achieved if women considered
breastfeeding each child for longer than they do now,"
the authors said.

The study concluded that if women had an average of
two and one-half children and breastfed each child an
extra six months, 5% of breast cancers would be
prevented each year. If they breastfed their child for
an additional 12 months, 11% of breast cancers would
be prevented each year.

Study May Encourage US Women To Breastfeed Longer
Jeanne Calle, PhD, director of analytic epidemiology
for the American Cancer Society, said the current
study helps to refine our knowledge of the reduced
risks that come from increased births and longer times
for breastfeeding.

"Whether women were heavy or thin, or whether they
lived in developed or undeveloped countries, it made
no difference," said Calle. "The relationships are
true."

Calle noted that there is a big difference between the
average two and one-half births and three months of
breastfeeding for each birth typical of the developed
countries compared to the average six and one-half
births and 24 months of breastfeeding for each child
found in developing countries.

"It' s not realistic to expect women in the United
States to have this number of children or breastfeed
this long," Calle said. "But the study may encourage
more women to breastfeed a bit longer."

"We have so much phobia and concern about the
increased rate of breast cancer —what could it be due
to? In a simple and eloquent way, this study says that
a great deal of the increased risk is due to changes
in reproductive patterns," Calle said. "Things have
changed over the past 100 years.

"The message here is not to have seven children and
breastfeed them for a total of 13 years," Calle said.
"The message is that simple and unglamorous factors
affect the risk of breast cancer. Breastfeeding does
decrease your risk of breast cancer, and if you want
to increase the duration of breastfeeding a bit, that'
s great."

Expert Suggests Other Ways to Reduce Risk
William C. Wood, MD, chairman of the department of
surgery at Emory University School of Medicine, and an
expert in breast cancer, noted this study shows that
if a woman had two children and breastfed for one year
for each child, her personal lifetime risk of breast
cancer would decrease from 10% to 9%.

For women with a high risk of breast cancer, Wood
noted that drugs like tamoxifen could reduce the risk
of breast cancer by 50%.

"It would seem in that situation to make more sense to
take tamoxifen if you are a woman at high risk of
breast cancer," said Wood. "This reduction does not
appear enough to decide to breastfeed."

Wood pointed out that having children at a younger age
is the ideal way to reduce the risk of breast cancer.

"This study should influence how we approach birth
control pills and other hormonal therapies," he said.
"I would advocate breastfeeding based on motivation
and lifestyle, not on decreasing the risk of breast
cancer."

Wood said, "This study is important because it is well
done. But the benefit of breastfeeding, although real,
is small."




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