Lengthy Lactation Lightens etabolic Syndrome Risk , with audio

Breastfeeding for longer periods may boost its cardiovascular and metabolic benefits for new moms, particularly those who had gestational diabetes, researchers found

Women without gestational diabetes who lactated for more than nine months had half the metabolic syndrome incidence rate of those who didn’t breastfeed at all or quit after a month, according to a population-based study published online in Diabetes

For women who had gestational diabetes during pregnancy — a particularly vulnerable group — more than nine months of breastfeeding was associated with a reduction in the incidence of metabolic syndrome to one-sixth the rate of similar women with one month or less of lactation

The findings provide the some of the first direct evidence for long-term cardiometabolic benefits, according rica P Gunderson, PhD, of Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, alif, and colleagues

The results also affirm the improved cholesterol and insulin profiles observed during lactation in other studies and epidemiological evidence for a weak to modest protective effect that can extend to mid- and later life

The strong protective effect seen in this study may put it on par with other key interventions to reduce metabolic syndrome risk, such as weight loss, diet, and exercise, Gunderson said in an interview

However, she cautioned that breastfeeding should be considered in combination with other lifestyle efforts, rather than as a replacement for them

“We know that lactation and breastfeeding of a child has so many important health benefits,” Gunderson noted “This is one additional benefit for their [the mothers'] own health”

Gunderson’s group analyzed findings from the longitudinal, population-based ARDIA oronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study

They examined metabolic syndrome incidence over 20 years of follow-up for 1,399 women ages 18 to 30 who had no biological children at baseline and no preexisting metabolic syndrome

Among the 704 women who had at least one child during the study period, 120 cases of incident metabolic syndrome developed, for an incidence rate 120 per 1,000 person-years

Women who never had any children had a metabolic syndrome incidence rate of 111 cases per 1,000 person-years, which was not significantly different from parous women

The 84 women who had gestational diabetes were more likely to go on to a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome, with an incidence rate of 221 compared with 108 per 1,000 person-years among parous women who didn’t have gestational diabetes P=0002

etabolic syndrome incidence rates dropped across the board with a longer duration of breastfeeding Lactation for more than one month lowered the incidence of metabolic syndrome by 39% to 56% for women who didn’t develop gestational diabetes and by 44% to 86% for those who did

But the effect was sufficiently greater for those who had gestational diabetes that breastfeeding for more than nine months erased the excess risk associated with having had gestational diabetes

For women without gestational diabetes, incidence was 158 per 1,000 person-years 95% I 113 to 215 if they lactated for no more than one month compared with 92 95% I 53 to 146 if they breastfed their children for more than nine months

For women with gestational diabetes, incidence dropped from 494 per person-years 95% I 258 to 847 when lactation duration was no more than one month down to 85 95% I 18 to 248 for those who breastfed for more than nine months

The breastfeeding period remained protective after adjustment for race and baseline preconception age, education, smoking, body mass index, all components of the metabolic syndrome, and physical activity all P=003

However, the researchers noted that the study was limited by lack of data on exclusivity or intensity of breastfeeding and by use of self-reporting for gestational diabetes

Also, women who breastfed had generally healthier lifestyles than those who didn’t, suggesting that residual confounding may have contributed to the findings, they wrote

The mechanism for the link between lactation and metabolic syndrome needs further study, but there is some evidence for greater postpartum weight loss and preferential loss of abdominal fat with breastfeeding, they concluded

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health through contracts with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and a career development award; a grant from the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and a research award from the American Diabetes Association

The researchers reported no conflicts of interest

source : www.medpagetoday.com

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Submited at Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 7:42 pm on Obstetrics & Gynaecology by madison
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