Over the last two years I have read bits and pieces about breast milk and its links to lower cancer rates for both mum and baby, and more recently a study about breast milk shrinking cancerous bladder tumours. So this piece discusses this research, and specifically the benefits breastfeeding brings to both mother and baby.
Breast cancer is the most common of all female cancers in the UK, with breast cancer accounting for 31% of all cancers in women. What this means is that 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer at some point in their life (Sasieni 2011). This is a scary statistic. What I have discovered from reading up on this is that we can halve our daughters risk of getting breast cancer in two ways. By breastfeeding our daughters, it will decrease the likelihood of them getting breast cancer in future, and their risk is reduced again if they themselves choose to breastfeed their own children (which is of course more likely if they as infants were breastfed). Freudenheim et al. (1994) and Barba et al. (2005) research found women who were breastfed, even if only for a short period have a 25% lower risk of developing breast cancer in comparison with those who were formula fed. The Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer (2002) study found that a womans risk of breast cancer is reduced by 4.1% for every 12 months she breastfeeds her children. So breastfeeding your baby protects and lessens the risk of breast cancer for you and your baby. An interesting question which could be raised having read this is, as breast cancer rates have increased over the last few decades, could it be in part because less women have chosen to breastfeed, thus women have missed out on the beneficial protective effects? I am not saying it rids the risk of breast cancer, but research suggests it could well halve the risk of getting breast cancer from 1 in 8, to 1 in 16 (Dettwyler 1995). Breastfeeding has also been found to reduce the risk of Ovarian, Endometrial and Uterine cancer in breastfeeding mothers, as well as rates of Osteoporosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Breastfeeding is also being researched in terms of its protective effects against childhood cancers. Mathur et al. (1993) study found that breastfeeding has a protective element against childhood cancers. They found that this protective element is stronger in those who have been exclusively breastfed. This research which was based in India concluded that the lower rates of childhood cancers in India could possibly be down to the higher rates of breastfeeding in India and the protective immunological effect this has. Martin et al. (2005) research also suggests breastfeeding does have a protective effect as regards childhood cancers, albeit small, but worthwhile all the same.
Breast cancer is the most common of all female cancers in the UK, with breast cancer accounting for 31% of all cancers in women. What this means is that 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer at some point in their life (Sasieni 2011). This is a scary statistic. What I have discovered from reading up on this is that we can halve our daughters risk of getting breast cancer in two ways. By breastfeeding our daughters, it will decrease the likelihood of them getting breast cancer in future, and their risk is reduced again if they themselves choose to breastfeed their own children (which is of course more likely if they as infants were breastfed). Freudenheim et al. (1994) and Barba et al. (2005) research found women who were breastfed, even if only for a short period have a 25% lower risk of developing breast cancer in comparison with those who were formula fed. The Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer (2002) study found that a womans risk of breast cancer is reduced by 4.1% for every 12 months she breastfeeds her children. So breastfeeding your baby protects and lessens the risk of breast cancer for you and your baby. An interesting question which could be raised having read this is, as breast cancer rates have increased over the last few decades, could it be in part because less women have chosen to breastfeed, thus women have missed out on the beneficial protective effects? I am not saying it rids the risk of breast cancer, but research suggests it could well halve the risk of getting breast cancer from 1 in 8, to 1 in 16 (Dettwyler 1995). Breastfeeding has also been found to reduce the risk of Ovarian, Endometrial and Uterine cancer in breastfeeding mothers, as well as rates of Osteoporosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Breastfeeding is also being researched in terms of its protective effects against childhood cancers. Mathur et al. (1993) study found that breastfeeding has a protective element against childhood cancers. They found that this protective element is stronger in those who have been exclusively breastfed. This research which was based in India concluded that the lower rates of childhood cancers in India could possibly be down to the higher rates of breastfeeding in India and the protective immunological effect this has. Martin et al. (2005) research also suggests breastfeeding does have a protective effect as regards childhood cancers, albeit small, but worthwhile all the same.
The most recent piece of breast milk research as regards cancer really took me by surprise. As you know I have always been very pro-breastfeeding, and think the benefits my son is getting from breast milk are fantastic, but the research that has found breast milk 'kills' cancer cells really astonished me. It really highlights how little we know about breast milk. Mossberg et al. (2010) studied HAMLET (Human Alpha-lactalbumin Made LEthal to Tumor cells). Alpha-lactalbumin is the primary protein in human breast milk and to simplify the process it has been found to induce cancer cell death, whilst preserving the healthy cells. This was found in human trials where it was found to 'kill' bladder cancer by injecting it into the cancer cells; whilst under labratory conditions has been found to 'kill' over 40 different types of cancer.
Breastfeeding helps protect you from cancer in the future, as well as possibly protecting your children from cancers as they grow. Breast milk is such an undervalued and undiscovered entity, the fact it has been found to induce cancer cell death only in the last year, simply highlights how amazing breast milk is.
References.
Barba M et al. (2005) Premenopausal women who were heavier than average at birth or had not been breastfed as infants appear to be at increased risk for developing breast cancer. Reported at the American Association for Cancer Research - Annual meeting in Anaheim CA.
Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer. (2002) Breast Cancer and breastfeeding: collaborative reanalysis of individual data from 47 epidemiological studies in 30 countries including 50302 women with breast cancer and 96973 women without the disease. Lancet. 360(9328): 187-95.
Dettwyler, K (1995) http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detcancer.html - accessed 05/07/2011.
Freudenheim J et al. (1994) Exposure to breast milk in infancy and the risk of breast cancer. Epidemiology. 5: 324-31.
Marin RM, Gunnell D, Owen CG, Smith GD. (2005) Breastfeeding and Childhood Cancer: A systematic review with meta-analysis. International Journal of Cancer. 117(6): 1020-31.
Mathur GP, Gupta N, Mathur S, Gupta V, Pradhan S et al. (1993) Breastfeeding and childhood cancer. Indian Journal of Paediarics. 30(5): 651-7.
Mossberg et al. (2010) HAMLET Interacts with Lipid Membranes and Perturbs Their Structure and Integrity. PLoS ONE. 5(2).
Sasieni PD, Shelton J, Ormiston-Smith NJ, Thomson CS, Silcocks PB. (2011) What is the lifetime risk of developing cancer? The effect of adjusting for multiple primaries.
No comments:
Post a Comment