Study: Breast Feed for a Year and Cut Breast Cancer Risk by 50 Percent

Women who breast-feed a child for a year may reduce their risk of developing breast cancer by about 50 percent, according to researchers at Yale.

Researchers compared 500 women who had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer with 500 women of the same age who were cancer free. They found that women who were cancer free and had breast-fed more than three children or had breast-fed a first child for more than 13 months had about half the risk of developing breast cancer compared to women who had never breast-fed, according to the study published in the British Journal of Cancer.

In a similar study, researchers found that Chinese women who breast-fed for 2 or more years had about half the risk of developing breast cancer compared to women who breast-fed for 6 months or less.

Researchers speculate that the preventative action of breast-feeding may come from suppression of hormonal fluctuations caused by the menstrual cycle or as a result of elimination of toxins from the breast.

Other sources: British Journal of Cancer, Reuters