A new study published in the Journal of National Cancer Institute says that women who breast fed their babies have lesser chances of having breast cancer. Researchers from Kaiser Permanente suggest that breast cancer survivors who had breast fed one or more of their children in the past are less likely to have a relapse or reoccurrence of the disease.
The study has suggested that breastfeeding has a strong protective effect on the body, reports The Market Business. Furthermore, they stated that the protective mechanism is stronger to those women who breast fed their babies for 6 months and longer.
To land to their findings, they followed 1,636 breast cancer patients and found out that breast feeding offered protection from breast cancer tumors of specific genetic types, reports UPI News.
According to lead study author Marilyn L. Kwan, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, "This is the first study we're aware of that examined the role of breastfeeding history in cancer recurrence, and by tumor subtype."
The participants answered questionnaires regarding their general health and breastfeeding history. Accordingly, their answers were linked and paralleled with their health outcomes including recurrence of the disease.
According to the results, breastfeeding can reduce the likelihood of breast cancer by 30%. The risk of dying with breast cancer when having breastfed is lowered by 28%.
"Breastfeeding may increase the maturation of ductal cells in the breast, making them less susceptible to carcinogens or facilitate the excretion of carcinogens, and lead to slower growing tumors." said Co-author Bette Caan.
Subsequently, according to Breastcancer.org, breastfeeding longer than one year can reduce the risk for breast cancer because expressing milk continuously limits the tendencies of breast cells to misbehave. Thus, it reduces the risk for cells to become cancerous.
"In fact, the protection was even stronger for women who had a history of breastfeeding for six months or more," Kwan added.
