Breast-Feeding Protects Against Arthritis

Courtesy of the NY Times

A Swedish study suggests yet another health advantage of breast-feeding, this time for the mother: it reduces the risk of rheumatoid arthritis. Researchers compared 136 women with rheumatoid arthritis with 544 healthy women of similar age. After controlling for factors including smoking and education level, they found that women who breast-fed for 1 to 12 months reduced their risk of arthritis by 25 percent, and that those who breast-fed for more than a year cut their risk in half. Although the mechanism is not clear, the scientists write that the protective effect may come from long-term changes in the mother’s immune system induced by breast-feeding. The study appeared online May 13 in The Annals of Rheumatic Diseases.