|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
By Amy Norton
NEW YORK, Mar 16 (Reuters Health) - Although breast-feeding provides the best nutrition to infants, new research is raising the question of whether breast-feeding for more than a few months may increase a child's risk for heart disease later in life.
In a study of 331 adults in their 20s, UK researchers found that those who were breast-fed for more than 4 months showed greater stiffness in their arteries--an early indicator of heart disease risk. And the longer the duration of breast-feeding beyond 4 months, the greater the artery stiffness.
However, these early findings should not alter the view that breast milk is the best nutrition source for infants, the authors caution in the March 17th issue of the British Medical Journal.
"The advantages of longer periods of breast-feeding need to be weighed against any possible adverse effects," lead study author Paul Leeson told Reuters Health. "The established advantages at present outweigh any longer-term disadvantages."
Leeson is a researcher at the Institute of Child Health in London, UK. The center has collaborated with the infant food industry on research into child nutrition.
Besides comprising the mixture of nutrients babies need to be healthy, breast milk contains protective substances that formula does not. Research shows that breast-fed children are less likely to have certain health problems such as ear infections and allergies. Experts generally tell women to breast-feed for as long as they and their babies wish.
Breast-feeding has even been linked to a lower heart disease risk. However, according to Leeson's team, statistics from the American Academy of Pediatrics show that among men born in the early-1900s, those who were breast-fed for a year or more had a higher-than-average rate of heart artery disease.
To test the hypothesis that the duration of breast-feeding influence heart disease later, the investigators examined artery function in young adults--before the effects of aging might obscure any effects of breast-feeding. They found that breast-feeding beyond 4 months was linked to greater stiffness in the participants' arm arteries.
Having high cholesterol or high blood pressure was also related to greater arterial stiffness, but even when such heart disease risk factors were considered, longer breast-feeding was still linked to hardened arteries.
A possible explanation rests in the way breast-feeding affects cholesterol metabolism. Breast-fed babies have been found to have higher cholesterol concentrations in the blood and vessel walls--a build-up that normally regresses. But, according to Leeson, exposure to the typical high-fat Western diet might get in the way of this natural regression.
"Therefore," Leeson said, "the way to get around any possible adverse cardiovascular effect may well be to reinforce the message of a healthy diet during the first few decades of life."
In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Ian Booth of the University of Birmingham, UK, writes that these findings "should not alter current recommendations about breast-feeding being the best way to promote infant and maternal health."
But, Booth writes, while the superiority of breast-feeding is "unchallenged," the optimal time for weaning babies has been inadequately studied.
These findings and other "challenging strands of evidence," according to Booth, are questioning the policy of telling women to breast-feed as long as they wish.
SOURCE: British Medical Journal 2001;322:625-626, 643-647.
| Health Topics | Drug Information | Dictionaries | Directories | Other Resources |
|
U.S. National Library of Medicine, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894
Copyright and Privacy Policy, We welcome your comments. Last updated: 18 March 2001 |