Interesting article. Cynthia D. Payne, IBCLC In the Berkshires of western Massachusetts <<Postpartum Arthritis Flare More Likely in Women Who Breast-Feed ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- WESTPORT, Jun 05 (Reuters Health) - The sustained prolactin production that occurs during breast-feeding seems to increase the risk of postpartum flare in women with rheumatoid arthritis or inflammatory arthritis, especially after a first pregnancy. Dr. Alan Silman and colleagues from the University of Manchester, UK, compared inflammatory status among 88 women who breast-fed for at least 4 weeks, including 50 who had previously breast-fed an infant, with 49 who did not breast-feed. They report their findings in the May issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism. The first-time breast-feeders exhibited significantly worse exacerbation of pain, swelling and joint activity than the other women. The non-breast-feeders exhibited less severe deterioration than the other two groups. "Further, the first-time breast-feeders were almost three times as likely as non-breast-feeders to have a C-reactive protein level of greater than 6 mcg/L," the researchers note. The researchers ascribe the findings to "the genetic linkage between HLA-DRB1 susceptibility alleles for rheumatoid arthritis and prolactin." Women without such an allele would not have increased likelihood of flare on breast-feeding, so they would be more likely to breast-feed after a subsequent pregnancy, Dr. Silman's group infers. They add that this may explain why "the influence of breast-feeding on both disease susceptibility and flare is restricted to those attempting breast-feeding for the first time." Arthritis Rheum 2000;43:1010-1015. >> *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html