Breastfeeding protects against inflammatory debilitation of rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory disease which causes deformity of the joints and debilitation. It affects twice as many women as men and is usually diagnosed in the childbearing years. Sometimes symptoms are alleviated during pregnancy but flare up in the postpartum period.
A study of 136 women showed a reduction in the development of RA if they had breastfed their baby for greater than 12 months. The results were dose-related to the length of breastfeeding, and more protective than the oral contraceptive pill.
Ironically, one month after release of this study, another study (Buchbinder 2008) showed that RA patients treated with the drug methotrexate had a 3-fold increased risk of developing melanoma and lung cancer and a 5-fold increase in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. (Isn't that difficult - the drug used to treat one condition causes a worse condition to develop).......Surely it is better that we promote long duration of breastfeeding to prevent these diseases in the first place.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/574467?src=mp&spon=16&uac=118199PV
This article is on Medscape. If you are not a subscriber, register to become one - it's free, and a very worthwhile website.
(Buchbinder R, Methotrexate treatment of rheumatoid arthritis increases risk for certain cancers. Arthritis Care and Research 2008: 59:794-799)
Conference was pure GOLD!
The online GOLD 08 conference was fun and interesting. There were 31 speakers and the recordings were available for 17 days and the feedback has been very positive. We have plans for some other exciting events and new products for the year ahead. Newsletter subscribers will receive newsflashes first-hand, so keep an eye open soon, and pass this Newsletter to your friends who'd like to keep informed.
IBLCE candidates
Lactation Exam Practice is in full swing again this year. This online program helps prepare candidates for the types of questions you will face on the IBLCE exam. This very popular program will give you lots of practice answering multiple-choice questions as well as showing you which areas of the Blueprint you may need to do a bit more study on.
59% of last year's students told us they had 'litte or no' confidence' prior to doing Lactation Exam Practice, but after doing it 90% reported feeling 'quite confident or increased confidence'. We're very proud of that - we're here to help you!
Join a few hundred of your colleagues now and start practicing, learning, sharing and gaining confidence.
Lactation Exam Practice.
Until then,
Enjoy those mothers and babies,
Denise Fisher, IBCLC
denise@health-e-learning.com
|
Health e-Matters June 08
