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Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 20 Oct 1999 11:44:17 EDT
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The full AP release:

Breast Feeding May Shield Cancer

.c The Associated Press

 WASHINGTON (AP) - Breast-fed infants may have up to a 21 percent lower risk
of developing some forms of childhood leukemia when compared to babies who
are bottle-fed, according to a new study.

The findings, to be published Wednesday in the Journal of the National Cancer
Institute, differ from some earlier, smaller studies that found no
statistically significant support for the idea that breast feeding protected
against leukemia.

The new study, by researchers at the University of Minnesota Cancer Center,
found that the longer babies were breast-fed, the more they were protected.

For babies breast-fed for at least one month, the leukemia risk was reduced
by 21 percent, while the risk was reduced by up to 30 percent for infants
breast-fed for six months or longer, the study found.

The conclusions are based on interviews with 2,200 mothers whose children had
been diagnosed with acute leukemia. Matching interviews were conducted with
mothers of other children of similar age, race and geographic location.

``We have long known of breast feeding's health benefits in terms of
protecting children from infection,'' said Dr. Les Robison, the principal
researcher in the University of Minnesota study. ``Now we have evidence to
suggest its immune-stimulating effects may provide another significant
advantage--protection against cancer.''

Robison acknowledged in a statement that further studies are needed before
the conclusions can be confirmed.

His study in JNCI noted that ``other large and more detailed investigations''
are needed ``to eliminate the possibility that the findings are due to
potential forms of bias or chance.''

It also noted that a 1988 German study involving 1,000 leukemia cases and a
Dutch study this year involving 492 cases found that breast feeding for six
months gave a ``nonsignificantly reduced risk of leukemia.''

The American Academy of Pediatrics has long recommended breast feeding as way
of protecting infants from infection because breast milk contains substances
that combat disease. A recent study also suggested that the nutrition in
breast milk can increase the IQ of babies by about five percent.

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