Boobs, Boobs Good For the Heart

      
      The January issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology found yet more evidence for the protective, preventative effects of breastfeeding -- for the mother:

Mothers who do not breastfeed their infants seem to be at increased risk of vascular changes associated with future cardiovascular disease.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for U.S. women. As such, it is important to identify how behaviors, such as lactation, modify women’s risk of cardiovascular disease. Lactation increases a mother’s metabolic expenditure by an estimated 480 kcal/d.1 Mothers who do not breastfeed retain more weight in the postpartum period than women who do breastfeed. In addition, lactation improves insulin requirements, glucose tolerance, lipid metabolism, and C-reactive protein profiles in the postpartum period. Recently, a number of studies have indicated longer-term effects of lactation, including a reduced risk of midlife metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease.

       So all you selfish mamas out there considering using formula, think again. Breastfeeding can be self-serving too! Other benefits of nursing for moms is reduced risk of osteoporosis, breast cancer, postpartum depression, endometrial cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. Ovarian and uterine cancers have also been found to be more common in women who did not breastfeed. With breastfeeding and its benefits, there is a dose-related effect for moms and babies. Meaning that the longer you nurse the more disease prevention you are likely to gain.

       Lactation duration and breast cancer risk are inversely related. The longer a woman breastfeeds the less likely she is to get pre- or postmenopausal breast cancer, even with a family history of the disease. Re-examination of data from 47 international studies found that for every year a woman breastfeeds, she reduces her risk of breast cancer by an average of 4.3 percent. The risk is reduced a further 7 percent by simply having a baby. One study found that women who've nursed for six years or more reduced their risk of breast cancer by as much as a 63 percent.

       A study published in The Archives of Internal Medicine in 2009 found that for women with an immediate relative who had breast cancer, those who breast-fed had a 59 percent lower risk of premenopausal breast cancer. Making their risk about the same as women who had no breast cancer in the family.

       For each year of breastfeeding, a woman decreases her chances of getting type 2 diabetes by 15 percent, reported a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2005. So if a woman breastfeeds three children for two years each, she's earned a 90 percent reduction in her risk of developing diabetes.
       My 2-year-old is still an avid nursing enthusiast, occasionally to my chagrin. It can be taxing and annoying at times, but mostly its a calming, bonding please-fall-asleep-now experience. I hope to wean him by age 3. My siblings and I were all breastfed for three years. Find more info on extended breastfeeding at Kellymom.