The longer women breastfeed, the lower their risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, a study of Chinese women reveals today (7 January 2014).
Although the benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and child have been widely documented, previous studies on the link between breastfeeding and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have not yielded definitive results.
But a study published in Rheumatology has shown that women who had breastfed their children were about half as likely to have the problem compared with women who had never breastfed.
Professor Peymane Adab, of the University of Birmingham, England, and colleagues used data from 7,349 women aged 50 years and older in the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort.
This cross-sectional study assessed the relationship between rheumatoid arthritis, breastfeeding, and also use of oral contraceptives, in a population of older women from South China, where cultural habits differ from those in the West.
It is the first study to first study to demonstrate a link between breastfeeding and lower risk of RA in a Chinese population, where breastfeeding was common practice and more prevalent than in many Western populations.
Prof Adab used questionnaires to ascertain sociodemographic history, disease and lifestyle history, obstetric history, breastfeeding history, and history of use of oral contraceptives.
The women were also asked if they had been diagnosed with RA, and were examined by a trained nurse to check their joints for any swelling or tenderness that may indicate the condition.
The majority of women had had at least one live birth, and of these, more than 95% had breastfed their children for at least one month. The mean age for first pregnancy was 24 years, and the mean age for diagnosis of RA was 47.5 years. Only 11% had ever used the contraceptive pill.
Prof Adab and colleagues found that among women who had at least one live birth, those who had breastfed were about half as likely to have RA compared with those who did not breastfeed.
She says there was also a statistically significant trend of the risk of RA decreasing with increased time spent breastfeeding.
She and her fellow researchers say that the link between breastfeeding and RA has potentially important implications for future RA disease burden.
“Women who took part in this study were born in the 1940s and 1950s, before China’s one-child policy was introduced in the late 1970s, and at a time when breastfeeding was more prevalent,” they say.
“The consequent decline in breastfeeding supports the need for prospective studies to examine whether there will be a higher incidence of RA in the future.
“More importantly, replication of the associated between breastfeeding and lower risk of RA in a different population reinforces the need for further research to understand the hormonal mechanisms involved in the onset of RA.”
Adab P, Qiang Jiang C et al. Breastfeeding practice, oral contraceptive use and risk of rheumatoid arthritis among Chinese women; Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study. Rheumatology 7 January 2014. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/ket456
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