This was sent to me by Judy Siegel, health correspondent of the Jerusalem 
Post originating with the BMJ.  Another benefit of breastfeeding for womens 
health.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Judy Siegel-Itzkovich" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Women who breast feed for more than a year halve their risk 
ofrheumatoid arthritis


EMBARGOED until 00:01 on 13/05/2008 UK Time.  Headline :   BMJ Specialist
Journals Press Release


ANNALS OF THE RHEUMATIC DISEASES

Women who breast feed for more than a year halve their risk of rheumatoid
arthritis

[Breast feeding, but not use of oral contraceptives, is associated with a
reduced risk of rheumatoid arthritis; Online First Annals of the Rheumatic
Diseases 2008; doi:10.1136/ard.2007.084707]


Women who breast feed for longer have a smaller chance of getting rheumatoid
arthritis, suggests a study published online ahead of print in the Annals of
the Rheumatic Diseases.

The study also found that taking oral contraceptives, which are suspected to
protect against the disease because they contain hormones that are raised in
pregnancy, did not have the same effect. Also, simply having children and
not breast feeding also did not seem to be protective.

The researchers compared 136 women with rheumatoid arthritis with 544 women
of a similar age without the disease. They found that that those who had
breast fed for longer were much less likely to get rheumatoid arthritis.

Women who had breastfed for 13 months or more were half as likely to get
rheumatoid arthritis as those who had never breast fed.  Those who had
breast fed for one to 12 months were 25 per cent less likely to get the
disease.

The proportion of women breast feeding for more than six months has
increased dramatically over the past 30 years. The authors concluded that it
was difficult to say whether there was a connection between higher rates of
breast feeding and a corresponding fall in the number of women affected by
rheumatoid arthritis, but that the results of the study provided yet another
reason why women should continue breast feeding.

Contact:
Dr Mitra Pikwer, Department of Rheumatology, Malmö University Hospital, 205
02 Malmö, Sweden.
Tel: +46 (0)40 125009
Fax: +46 (0)40 337018
Email: [log in to unmask]

Click here to view the paper in full:
http://press.psprings.co.uk/ard/may/ar84707.pdf

Judy Siegel-Itzkovich
Health and Science Reporter and Software Reviewer
The Jerusalem Post

POB 81,
91000 Jerusalem
ISRAEL

Phone: 972-2-5315665
          02-5315665

Editorial Office Fax
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e-mail: [log in to unmask]

Jerusalem Post Internet Edition:
www.jpost.com
Click on HEALTH & SCI-TECH section

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