The Heusens

I just read this CNN article, titled "Breast-feeding may protect mom's heart after menopause." It almost seems like there's a conspiracy in the medical community to tout the benefits of breastfeeding, no matter how small.

Here's one quote from the article: "Calling the findings "dramatic and persuasive," Edward R. Newton, M.D., a professor and chair of obstetrics and gynecology at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, stresses that "it is imperative that health care providers and our society support and educate women concerning the maternal benefits of prolonged breast-feeding as well as the documented benefits of breast-feeding for the children."

So...what exactly are these "dramatic" maternal benefits? Let's take a look at the findings:

"Among women who breast-feed for more than one year, the researchers estimate that 38.6 percent will develop high blood pressure, 12.3 percent high cholesterol and 9.1 percent cardiovascular disease. In comparison, 42.1 percent of women who don't breast-feed may develop high blood pressure, 14.8 percent high cholesterol, and 9.9 percent cardiovascular disease."

So...let me get this straight. In a non-causal, completely correlational study, we see that breastfeeding FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR OR MORE is associated with a 0.8 percentage point decrease in the risk of developing cardiovascular disease? Who freaking cares!?! And who knows whether they even controlled for mother's lifestyle factors (eating habits/education/socioeconomic status) properly to obtain these results.

Um...does anyone else feel (like me and Nicole) that they're sick of how these studies are being blown out of proportion and used to control women's bodies and lives?

Posted by Ashlyn on Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 11:49 PM | Permalink