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06/08/2013

Mothers Who Breastfeed Lessen Risk Of Alzheimer's

Mothers who breastfeed have a two-thirds lower risk of developing Alzheimer's in later life, compared to women who never breastfeed their children, a new study has claimed.

The research, which was carried out at Cambridge University, found that the longer the duration of breastfeeding, the more protection from the disease the mother gains.

Researchers interviewed 81 British mothers, including some with Alzheimer's, aged between 70 and 100. They also spoke to the women's relatives, spouses and carers. Throughout the process, the researchers collected data about the women's reproductive history, their breastfeeding history and their dementia status.

This was then compared with the participants' breastfeeding history and it was revealed that there were clear links between breastfeeding and Alzheimer's.

The corroboration did not change when the researchers took into account potential variables such as age, education, smoking or the age of the women when she first gave birth.

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The report, which has been published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, found women who breastfed had a 64% reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's compared to women who did not, while longer breastfeeding cuts the risk further.

For those women who breastfed for a year, had a 78% reduced risk of Alzheimer's compared to a woman who had breastfed for only four months.

However, the protective benefits were far less for women who had a parent or sibling with dementia.

It has been suggested that one theory is that breastfeeding deprives the body of the hormone progesterone, which is known to desensitise the brain's oestrogen receptors, making it more difficult for oestrogen to protect the brain against Alzheimer's.

Dr Molly Fox, of the Department of Biological Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, who led the study, explained: "Alzheimer's is the world's most common cognitive disorder and it already affects 35.6million people.

"In the future, we expect it to spread most in low and middle-income countries. So it is vital that we develop low-cost, large-scale strategies to protect people against this devastating disease."

She added that while the study was not able to compare the Alzheimer's risk in mothers, whether they breastfed or not, and women who remained childless, previous research has suggested that not having children might be linked with poorer cognitive function in old age.

"The worrying thing is that this older generation spent more time breastfeeding. Only one per cent of mothers in Britain today breastfeed exclusively for six months," she concluded.

(JP/CD)

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"Mothers who breastfeed have a two-thirds lower risk of developing Alzheimer's in later life, compared to women who never breastfeed their children, a new study has claimed."