How important is breastfeeding? JAHA: It also reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke in women

▎ WuXi AppTec content team editor

The World Health Organization recommends that exclusive breastfeeding be given during the first 6 months of life, and that infants should be supplemented with complementary foods on top of continued breastfeeding until they are 2 years of age or older. Breast milk is the best food for babies and can provide irreplaceable nutrition for the baby's growth and development.

And breastfeeding is also good for mom's health. A growing body of research suggests that breastfeeding is strongly associated with a reduced risk of breast, ovarian and type 2 diabetes. So does breastfeeding reduce a mother's risk of cardiovascular disease?

截图来源：Journal of the American Heart Association

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that breastfeeding helps women reduce their risk of stroke, cardiovascular disease and death from cardiovascular disease.

The study analysed data from 1986 to 2009, including prospective studies from Australia, China, Norway, Japan and the United States, as well as a transnational study. The meta-study included nearly 200,000 menstrual women with an average age of 51.3 years. The average age of first delivery was 24.6 years and the average delivery was 2.3 births.

A total of 82% of these women reported having been breastfed (the average duration of breastfeeding was 15.6 months). After 10.3 years of follow-up, a total of 54,226 mothers suffered from cardiovascular disease, 10,766 died of cardiovascular disease, 26,913 had coronary heart disease, and 30,843 suffered from stroke.

After an average follow-up of 10.3 years, it was found that previously breastfed mothers compared with menstruating mothers who had never breastfed:

11% reduction in the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (correctional risk ratio = 0.89);

14% lower risk of coronary heart disease (correction risk ratio = 0.86);

12% lower risk of stroke (correction-risk ratio = 0.88);

The risk of death from cardiovascular disease was reduced by 17% (corrective risk ratio = 0.83).

The researchers also found that as the duration of breastfeeding gradually increased (within 12 months), the risk of cardiovascular disease decreased, but for longer feeding durations, it was uncertain whether it was further correlated with the risk. In addition, factors such as mean age at study enrollment, duration of median follow-up, average number of births, study quality, or geographic area did not affect the overall trend of study results.

Dr. Shelley Miyamoto, director of Children's Hospital Colorado, said: "Mothers should be further encouraged to breastfeed their babies, as this not only provides nutrition and improves their health, but also improves their own health and reduces their risk of cardiovascular disease." ”

Dr Peter Willeit, corresponding author of the study and professor of clinical epidemiology at the Medical University of Innsbruck, noted: "Previous studies have investigated the association between breastfeeding and maternal risk of cardiovascular disease, but the findings for the intensity of the association have been inconsistent. This study demonstrates the importance of encouraging and supporting breastfeeding by creating a friendlier work environment for new mothers and educational programs for prenatal and postnatal families. ”