Breastfeeding Reduces A
Woman's Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk
Women who breast
feed for more than one year reduce their risk of rheumatoid
arthritis (RA) by half, according to a new Swedish study.
The researchers also found that having children but not breast-feeding
offered women no protection against the disease.
Taking oral contraceptives also failed to reduce the risk of
RA. It's been suspected that oral contraceptives offer protection
against the disease because they contain hormones that are elevated
during pregnancy.
The Malmo University Hospital study included 136 women with rheumatoid
arthritis and 544 women without the disease. Women who breast-fed
for 13 months or more were half as likely to get RA as those who
never breast-fed. Women who had breast-fed for one to 12 months
were 25 percent less likely to get the disease than those who
never breast-fed.
Over the past 30 years, the number of women breast-feeding for
more than six months has increased dramatically, the researchers
noted. They said it's difficult to say whether there's a link
between higher rates of breast-feeding and a corresponding decline
in the number of women with rheumatoid arthritis.
However, the results of this study offer yet another reason why
women should breast-feed their babies, the researchers concluded.
The study findings were published online May 13 in the Annals
of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease, characterized by inflammation
of the lining -- or synovium -- of the joints. It can lead to
long-term joint damage, resulting in chronic pain, loss of function
and disability, according to the Arthritis Association.
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