Does breastfeeding prevent multiple sclerosis relapse?
Another plus for breastfeeding – it may actually reduce the risk for multiple sclerosis (MS) relapse, according to a study that will be presented at the 61st Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Seattle this coming April-May.
The study followed up 32 women with MS and 29 without MS during their pregnancies and up to 1 year after delivery. During the follow-up period, 36% of women with MS who breastfed for at least 2 months had a relapse. This seems high but if you consider that 87% of non-breastfeeding women with MS had a relapse, then the message becomes clear.
52% of those with MS did not breastfeed or only did for a very short time and the main reason why they chose to do so was because they wanted to start taking their MS medications again. Most MS drugs cannot be taken while breasfeeding because they can get into the mother’s milk and affect breastfed babies. Unfortunately, the study showed that restarting medications within two months of delivery actually increased, rather than decreased the incidence of relapse.
The findings suggest that stopping breastfeeding early in favor of MS treatments may not be that beneficial to the mom after all. However, the mechanisms behind the breastfeeding – MS relapse link are not clearly understood and the study population was too small to be conclusive. Bigger studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Read More
