From: Anne P. Mitchell, Esq. <[log in to unmask]>
> I _just_ heard on the (11:00pm) news that a new study out of the
University of Minnesota suggests that breastfeeding your baby helps to
protect them against leukemia.
>
> Does anybody have any further information about this new study?
Here's what today's N.Y. Times said:
October 20, 1999
Breast-Feeding Linked to Lower Leukemia Risk
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- Breast-fed infants may have a lower risk of developing some
forms of childhood leukemia than those who are bottle-fed, according to a
new study.
The findings, to be published on 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 received diagnoses of 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 Minnesota study. "Now we have evidence to suggest its
immune-stimulating effects may provide another significant advantage --
protection against cancer."
Still, Dr. Robison acknowledged that "other large and more detailed
investigations" were needed before the conclusions could be confirmed.
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