The study reported on Medscape may be read for free in its entirety in the
latest issue of the BMJ on line. www.bmj.com and the authors are Jacobsson
et al from Malmö, Sweden.  The editors at Medscape are merely repeating the
wording used by the authors themselves who write in the body of the article:
"Initiation of breast feeding during inpatient care after delivery (0.2, 0.1
to 0.7), and paternal occupation (manual v non-manual worker; 2.8, 1.3 to
5.7) were also associated with rheumatoid arthritis."

It is not immediately apparent that the association with regard to
initiation of BF is a NEGATIVE one, i.e. more initiation of BF, less
arthritis.  I had to really squint at the table of results to figure it out.
They do say in the introduction that "We assessed perinatal characteristics
in relation to the risk of adult rheumatoid arthritis and observed
associations with several perinatal exposures, including high birth weight
and low frequency of breast feeding."

No prizes for clarity in language here, I'm afraid.  The authors do not
state any competing interests; one hopes this means there were none.

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand

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