My comments on the abstact of the article in today's Journal of the
National Cancer Institute.  BTW, has anyone seen the article
itself?  I'd like to know how they defined breastfeeding (exclusive,
full, partial, minimal).

------- Forwarded message follows -------
From:                   "Rachael Hamlet" <[log in to unmask]>
To:                     [log in to unmask]
Copies to:              [log in to unmask]
Subject:                Breastfeeding and Leukemia Risk (JNCI Feedback Form)
Date sent:              Wed, 20 Oct 1999 08:36:10 -0700

Previous Page:
http://jnci.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/91/20/1765 Browser:

Comments:

I am wondering why the article on breastfeeding and leukemia risk
states the results in terms of breastfeeding providing "protection"
rather than artificial feeding "increasing risks."  Any other exposure
to an artificial substance, or even a dietary element such as fat,
would be stated as "increasing risks."

There is an important public health objective that is advanced (as
well as consistency in scientific language) by stating that "artificial
feeding increases the risk of childhood leukemia by 26% (over
breastfeeding for a month) and by 42% (over breastfeeding for six
months)".  I hope that in the future your journal (and all journals
reporting the epidemiological hazards of artifical feeding of infants)
will adopt this language.

Rachael Hamlet

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