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Breast-Feeding During
Infancy May Lower Blood Pressures in Childhood
According
to a report by the March 02, 2004 Reuters Health, individuals who were
breast-fed during infancy appear to have a decreased risk of death from
heart disease, and now new research suggests that this may be due to blood
pressure-lowering effects. The findings are based on a study of 4,763
non-twin, full-term infants who had their blood pressures determined at
7.5 years of age.
Dr. Richard M. Martin,
from the University of Bristol in the UK, and colleagues found that
breast-fed children had systolic blood pressure (the top number of the
blood pressure reading) lower than those of children who were not
breast-fed. The study showed that there was little difference between
infants who were only breast-fed and those who received a combination of
breast milk and formula. The study did show that the duration of
breast-feeding had an increasingly positive effect, creating a notable
decrease in blood pressure for each additional 3 months of breastfeeding.
Dr. Martin noted the
importance of even a slight decrease in blood pressure by commenting, "A
one-percent reduction in population systolic blood pressure levels is
associated with about a 1.5-percent reduction in all-cause mortality,
equivalent to a lessening in premature death of about 8000 to 2000 deaths
per year in the United States and the United Kingdom, respectively"
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