Breastfeeding is praised for its benefits to baby and as more studies show, its benefits for the mother as well.  Hospitals, physicians, nurses and scientific researchers are paying a bit more attention to this womanly art.  

 
Multiple studies have described reduced rates of breast and ovarian cancer in women that breastfeed their children for an extended period of time.  This time period is in some debate because of the difficulties measuring various amounts of time that each mother chooses to breastfeed.  One study focused on women that breastfed their children for a period of at least 6 months.   

The University of Cambridge has published new research which has detected a link in the immune system and the cells that produce breast milk.  They discovered cytokines cytokines have a central role in the immune response) which are used in the breast to promote the production of the milk cells.  .

When the body responds to an assault by infection or virus, it produces T helper Type 1 and T helper Type 2 cells by command of our obviously complex immune system.  The T cells release cytokine molecules to aid in the body’s battle against invading organisms. 

Scientists, using a mouse model, conclusively demonstrated the beneficial role of the Type 2 cytokines in the breast.   When these molecules were absent, the production of breast milk was vastly reduced. 

The significance of this unexpected discovery may give us a link to the understanding of cancer cells which do not react correctly to cytokine molecules and can then multiply out of control and become cancerous.  During pregnancy, the mammary gland uses this system to produce more milk producing cells.  How is that for wondrously made….. 

A word of caution is due.  Routine self breast exams, yearly breast exams by an experienced physician and mammograms as prescribed by your physician are never an option.  These are early detectors of cancer which save lives. 

Author, Christine Frazier, RN