Study has Found Risk of Endometriosis may be Lowered due to Breastfeeding

Every mother knows the benefits of breastfeeding their baby, but researchers have found another health benefit for mothers who are able to nurse their babies.

Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital have found women who breastfed for a longer period of time reduced the risk of being diagnosed with endometriosis.

Endometriosis is an incurable disease with no known cause. Statistically, 1 in 10 women suffer from endometriosis and it currently affects 176 million women worldwide. The symptoms are often dismissed as period pain, but research into the condition has found women who suffer from the disease experience chronic pelvic pain, excessive bleeding and pain during menstruation and pain during sexual intercourse. The condition is becoming more widely known as research continues to shed light on the disease.

With the cause and cure still yet to be found, the findings from this new study are encouraging for women suffering from the condition.

Leslie V. Farland, a research scientist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and leader of the study said, “Given the chronic nature of endometriosis and that very few modifiable risk factors are currently known, breastfeeding may be an important modifiable behaviour to reduce the risk of endometriosis among women after pregnancy.”

The study monitored 72 394 women who had one or more pregnancies and there were 3296 diagnoses of endometriosis between them.

When compared with women who breastfed for less than a month per pregnancy, those that breastfed for a year or longer had a 32 percent reduced risk of developing endometriosis. The risk reduced by a further 8 percent for each additional 3 month block of breastfeeding.

“Our finding builds on what we already know about breastfeeding — that it’s very beneficial for both the child and the mother,” said Farland.

Further research is still being conducted on the condition, but those involved in this particular study are hoping to find if breastfeeding can also reduce the symptoms of endometriosis of those women who have already been diagnosed. Study has Found Risk of Endometriosis may be Lowered due to Breastfeeding
Every mother knows the benefits of breastfeeding their baby, but researchers have found another health benefit for mothers who are able to nurse their babies.

Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital have found women who breastfed for a longer period of time reduced the risk of being diagnosed with endometriosis.

Endometriosis is an incurable disease with no known cause. Statistically, 1 in 10 women suffer from endometriosis and it currently affects 176 million women worldwide. The symptoms are often dismissed as period pain, but research into the condition has found women who suffer from the disease experience chronic pelvic pain, excessive bleeding and pain during menstruation and pain during sexual intercourse. The condition is becoming more widely known as research continues to shed light on the disease.

With the cause and cure still yet to be found, the findings from this new study are encouraging for women suffering from the condition.

Leslie V. Farland, a research scientist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and leader of the study said, “Given the chronic nature of endometriosis and that very few modifiable risk factors are currently known, breastfeeding may be an important modifiable behaviour to reduce the risk of endometriosis among women after pregnancy.”
The study monitored 72 394 women who had one or more pregnancies and there were 3296 diagnoses of endometriosis between them.

When compared with women who breastfed for less than a month per pregnancy, those that breastfed for a year or longer had a 32 percent reduced risk of developing endometriosis. The risk reduced by a further 8 percent for each additional 3 month block of breastfeeding.

“Our finding builds on what we already know about breastfeeding — that it’s very beneficial for both the child and the mother,” said Farland.

Further research is still being conducted on the condition, but those involved in this particular study are hoping to find if breastfeeding can also reduce the symptoms of endometriosis of those women who have already been diagnosed.