Moms Who Breastfeed Less Likely To Develop Heart Attacks Or Strokes
According to the study, postmenopausal women who breastfed for at least one month had lower rates of diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, all known to cause heart disease. Women who had breastfed their babies for more than a year were 10 percent less likely to have had a heart attack, stroke, or developed heart disease than women who had never breastfed.
Dr. Schwarz and colleagues found that the benefits from breastfeeding were long-term ― an average of 35 years had passed since women enrolled in the study had last breastfed an infant.
The longer a mother nurses her baby, the better for both of them," Dr. Schwarz pointed out. "Our study provides another good reason for workplace policies to encourage women to breastfeed their infants."
The findings are based on 139,681 postmenopausal women enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative study of chronic disease, initiated in 1994.
The research was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institute of Child Health and Development.
Duration of Lactation and Risk Factors for Maternal Cardiovascular Disease
Schwarz, Eleanor Bimla; Ray, Roberta M.; Stuebe, Alison M.; Allison, Matthew A.; Ness, Roberta B.; Freiberg, Matthew S.; Cauley, Jane A.
Obstetrics & Gynaecology . 113(5):974-982, May 2009
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090421080210.htm
