Breastfeeding is the practice of a woman feeding an infant (or sometimes a toddler or a young child) with milk produced from her mammary glands, usually directly from the nipples. Babies have a sucking instinct allowing them to extract the milk.
Breastfeeding reduces risk of breast cancer in women with a family history of the disease – Women with a family history of breast cancer were 59 percent less likely to develop breast cancer themselves if they breastfed their children, revealed by US researchers.
Breastfeeding associated with a reduced risk of relapse in women with multiple sclerosis – Women with multiple sclerosis who breastfeed exclusively for at least two months appear less likely to experience a relapse within a year after their baby’s birth, according to a report that will appear in the August print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Study in pregnant women suggests probiotics may help ward off obesity – One year after giving birth, women were less likely to have the most dangerous kind of obesity if they had been given probiotics from the first trimester of pregnancy, found new research that suggests manipulating the balance of bacteria in the gut may help fight obesity.
Moms who breastfeed less likely to develop heart attacks or strokes and cardiovascular disease. – The longer women breastfeed, the lower their risk of heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular disease, report University of Pittsburgh researchers in a study published in the May issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Researchers recommends annual screening for vitamin D deficiency and routine vitamin D supplementation in at-risk populations, such as dark-skinned or veiled groups. – Annual screening for vitamin D deficiency and routine vitamin D supplementation in at-risk populations, such as dark-skinned or veiled groups, is recommended by Australian researchers.
Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) estimate lives lost due to delay in antiretroviral drug use for HIV/AIDS in South Africa. – More than 330,000 lives were lost to HIV/AIDS in South Africa from 2000 and 2005 because a feasible and timely antiretroviral (ARV) treatment program was not implemented, assert researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) in a study published online by the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS) (http://www.jaids.com/).
A new study has corroborated the popular theory that breastfeeding significantly reduces a mother’s risk of breast cancer — in fact, researchers have found women who breastfeed for a year are five per cent less likely to have the disease. – Mothers who breastfeed their babies for a total of a year, are almost five per cent less likely to develop breast cancer than women who do not breastfeed at all, a scientist has advised.
Babies who are breastfeeding trigger a surge of a “trust” hormone oxytocin in their mothers’ brains, researchers have said. – When a baby suckles at a mother’s breast, it starts a chain of events that leads to surges of the “trust” hormone oxytocin being released in their mothers brains.
FDA proposes new rule to provide updated information on the use of prescription drugs and biological products during pregnancy and breast-feeding. – New drug labeling system would provide better information about any prescription drug to pregnant women and nursing mothers as FDA proposes new rule to provide updated information on the use of prescription drugs and biological products during pregnancy and breast-feeding.
Long-term, exclusive breastfeeding appears to improve children?s cognitive development, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. – Long-term, exclusive breastfeeding appears to improve children’s cognitive development, revealed by researchers. It is already known that children and adults who were breastfed as infants have higher scores on IQ tests and other measures of cognitive (thinking, learning and memory) development than those who were fed formula.
AIDS virus can be spread by a mother pre-chewing her infant’s food. – HIV can be transmitted to infants through food that is pre-chewed by an HIV-positive parent or caregiver, CDC researchers said Wednesday at the 15th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston, the New York Times reports. Specific findings from the study have not been released, the Times reports.
First solid evidence that viral transmission through breast milk can be prevented by a drug Nevirapine HIV drug. – An antiretroviral drug already in widespread use in the developing world to prevent the transmission of HIV from infected mothers to their newborns during childbirth has also been found to substantially cut the risk of subsequent HIV transmission during breast-feeding.
