A more recent reference than has been noted to date used a large sample of women in Mexico where the likelihood of breastfeeding includes extended experience for many. Their findings do NOT support the more wishy-washy conclusions of others. They found a clear reduction in risk for breast cancer in BOTH premenopausal and postmenopausal women and contned that it relates to extended breastfeeding expeirence. Is it not possible that the less conclusive (weaker statistical outcomes) of other studies may be related to the WAY the women in those studies breastfed--not just frequency of initiation, but duration of exclusive and any breastfeeding? Check it out yourself. Romieu I, et al: Breast cancer and lactation history in Mexican women. AM J EPIDEMIOL 143:543-52, 1996 "We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations." Kathleen G. Auerbach,PhD, IBCLC (Ferndale, WA USA) [log in to unmask] WEB PAGE: http://www.telcomplus.com/~kga/lactation.html LACTNET archives http://library.ummed.edu/lsv/archives/lactnet.html mailto:[log in to unmask]