Written By: Debjani Arora | Updated : October 4, 2018 6:21 PM IST
Breastfeeding reduces exposure to estrogen which limits cancer cell growth. © Shutterstock
Yes, breastfeeding gives your baby a healthy start but it can also benefit you in a number of ways and one of them is it can lower your breast cancer risk. In fact, a study by Cancer Research UK, pointed out that late pregnancies and short period of breastfeeding among urban mothers is a major reason for the increasing number of breast cancer cases globally. The research is a detailed analysis of 47 published studies, with nearly 150 000 participants across 30 countries. The results show that if a woman breastfeeds her child for more than 12 months, she can reduce her risk by 4.3 percent.
How breastfeeding helps?
Breastfeeding induces hormonal changes during lactation that delay menstrual periods. This reduces a woman s lifetime exposure to hormones like estrogen, which can promote breast cancer cell growth. Apart from this, during pregnancy and breastfeeding, a woman sheds breast tissue which helps remove cells with potential DNA damage, thus helping to reduce your chances of developing breast cancer. Other than breast cancer it can also help lower risk of ovarian cancer by preventing ovulation. The less you ovulate, the less exposure to estrogen and abnormal cells that could become cancerous.
What you should do?
To reap the health perks of breastfeeding, you should do it exclusively for at least six months, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research and World Health Organization. This means your baby receives only breast milk no water, other liquids or solids. Moreover, Australian researchers found that women who breastfed for more than 13 months were 63% less likely to develop ovarian cancer than women who breastfed for less than seven months. And, women who breastfed multiple children for over 31 months could reduce their ovarian cancer risk by up to 91% compared to women who breastfed for under 10 months.
