I have to disgree with Nikki on this one.  "Protects" is often taken t be the same as "prevents" which would mean if you do "A" then "B" will not happen.  Breastfeeding does not guarantee that you won't get breast cancer (just ask those of us on LN who have had it!) but it certainly does make it less likely than for a woman that doesn't breastfeed.  In the same way, we cannot say that someone who doesn't breastfeed will definitely get it.  "Reducing risk" or "increasing risk" seem to be the correct terms in this case.  I think this is where we sometimes turn peoplle off to all the reasons for breastfeeding.  When we say breastfeeding protects from anything, we leave it open for those who say, "I  didn't breastfeed and _______ didn't happen to me (or my baby)."  However, when we talk about increasing or reducing risk-changing the odds so to speak-then individual cases that go against those odds don't carry as much weight.

Winnie

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