Duration of lactation and incidence of myocardial infarction in middle to late adulthood
Open accessAbstract
Objective We assessed the relation between duration of lactation and maternal incident myocardial infarction.Study design This was a prospective cohort study of 89,326 parous women in the Nurses' Health Study.Results During 1,350,965 person-years of follow-up, 2540 cases of coronary heart disease were diagnosed. Compared with parous women who had never breastfed, women who had breastfed for a lifetime total of 2 years or longer had 37% lower risk of coronary heart disease (95% confidence interval, 23-49%; P for trend < .001), adjusting for age, parity, and stillbirth history. With additional adjustment for early-adult adiposity, parental history, and lifestyle factors, women who had breastfed for a lifetime total of 2 years or longer had a 23% lower risk of coronary heart disease (95% confidence interval, 6-38%; P for trend = .02) than women who had never breastfed.Conclusion In a large, prospective cohort, long duration of lactation was associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease.
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Compared with women who did not breastfeed, two US cohort studies found that morbidity from myocardial infarction is lower in women with a lifetime length of lactation of more than 12 months.
“Compared with women who did not breastfeed, two US cohort studies found that morbidity from myocardial infarction92 and composite cardiovascular disease93 was lower in women with a lifetime length of lactation of more than 12 months.”
From Association between the reproductive health of young women and cardiovascular disease in later life: umbrella review (2020) · cites this paper as [92]
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- Authors
- Stuebe, A. M., Michels, K. B., Willett, W. C., Manson, J. E., Rexrode, K., & Rich-Edwards, J. W.
- Affiliations
- Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
- Corresponding author
- Stuebe, Alison M.
- ORCID
- Venue
- American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-02
- Volume
- 200
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 138.e1-138.e8
- ISSN
- 0002-9378 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2684022
- OpenAlex
- W2050215249
- Cited by
- 187
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 6.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HL60712)
- National Institutes of Health (CA 87969)
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (HL60712, R01HL060712, HL34594, R01HL034594)
- National Cancer Institute (CA-87969, P01CA087969)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R21DK073739)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Breastfeeding Practices and Influences
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Risks and Factors
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Acute Myocardial Infarction Research
- Keywords
- lactation length, breastfeeding, myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease, postmenopausal women, Nurses' Health Study, cardiovascular risk
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Age Factors, Breast Feeding, Coronary Disease, Female, Humans, Lactation, Myocardial Infarction, Pregnancy, Prospective Studies, Time Factors
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