Breastfeeding protects mom's heart

• April 25, 2024

One study conducted in the United States, with the participation of more than 100 thousand women, indicates that mothers who breastfeed throughout their lives for more than 23 months have 23% less risk of coronary heart disease . 

The research began in 1976 in the United States, when a group of specialists from Brigham Women's Hospital of the Harvard Medical School began to analyze the influence of breastfeeding on the cardiovascular health feminine The results of the so-called Nurses' Health Study were recently published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Experts have found that during the period of lactation, improves the metabolism of lipids and glucose. These metabolic changes are maintained over time, which confirms the hypothesis that breastfeeding is related to a lower risk of diabetes (around 15% for each year of lactation) and an increase in the so-called cholesterol good.

Most of these factors influence cardiac risk so that, the researchers indicate, one might expect an attenuation of the chances of suffering cardiovascular disease associated with breastfeeding. Other possible mechanisms related to the protective effect of breastfeeding are found in the ability to mobilize the fat deposits (especially the deeper ones) of women who breastfeed and their possible action through the regulation of stress responses.

According to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, breastfeeding also reduces the risk of ovarian cancer and breast cancer and seems to have a reducing effect on the development of osteoporosis.

Video Medicine: Breastfeeding: Benefits Beyond the Bond (April 2024).