Breastfeeding may reduce the risk of mother to metabolic syndrome, a disorder associated with heart disease and diabetes in women, according to a study by the Research Division of Kaiser Permanente in Oakland institution (United States).
This association was even higher in women who had gestational diabetes during pregnancy. The study results are published in the online edition of the journal ‘Diabetes’.
Breastfeeding reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome among 39 to 56 percent in women who have had gestational diabetes and between 44 and 86 percent in those who did, both depending on its duration. The researchers examined the duration of breastfeeding including the periods between 0-1 months and more than 9 months.
Previous research has shown that breastfeeding women have higher blood glucose and lipids in more favorable in the coming weeks to delivery than those who did not breastfeed. Other studies have reported weaker associations in relation to metabolic syndrome and diabetes in middle-aged women and older children.
Explains Erica Gunderson, head of the study, “The findings suggest that breastfeeding could have lasting positive effects on risk factors of women in the later development of diabetes or heart disease.” Gunderson notes that the benefits do not appear to be due to differences in weight gain, physical activity and other healthy behaviors. However, in the study, participants who did not develop metabolic syndrome had less abdominal fat and higher levels of good cholesterol.
Of 704 women between 18 and 30 were first-time and did not suffer metabolic syndrome before pregnancy. Among them there were 120 new cases of the disorder after pregnancy over 20 years of follow up. Metabolic syndrome is a set of risk factors associated with obesity and metabolism largely predicts future diabetes and possibly coronary artery disease during middle age and early mortality in women.
Previous studies suggest a stronger link between metabolic syndrome and diabetes with coronary heart disease. Gunderson Other recent research published in August 2009 in the journal American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology ‘found that women with gestational diabetes are 2.5 times more likely to develop metabolic syndrome after pregnancy.
The researchers said that further studies will be necessary to find out more are the mechanisms by which breastfeeding may influence the risk of cardiovascular disease or diabetes. It is also necessary to clarify whether changes in lifestyle, including duration of breastfeeding, could affect the development of coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes, particularly among high risk groups such as women with a history of gestational diabetes.
Tags: Breastfeeding, cardiovascular disease, Cholesterol, Diabetes, Gestational diabetes, Healthy, Heart disease, metabolic syndrome, Pregnancy, Women
As a woman, I couldn’t agree more.