Study links breast-feeding to lower risk for diabetes

Mothers who breast-feed have lower blood-sugar levels.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Breast-feeding is thought to protect babies from developing diabetes. Now research suggests it might even help keep their mothers from getting the disease, too.
A study found that the longer women nursed, the lower their risks of developing diabetes.
The findings are far from conclusive, but the researchers say breast-feeding may change mothers' metabolism in ways that make the possible connection plausible.
These metabolic changes may help keep blood sugar levels stable and make the body more sensitive to the blood-sugar-regulating hormone insulin, said Dr. Alison Stuebe, the study's lead author and a researcher at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital.
That theory is partly based on evidence in rats and humans showing that breast-feeding mothers had lower blood-sugar levels than those who did not breast-feed.
About the study
The new study, published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association, involved 157,000 nurses who participated in two long-running health studies. They filled out periodic health questionnaires and were followed for at least 12 years. During the study, 6,277 participants developed type 2 diabetes.
Women who breast-fed for at least one year were about 15 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who never breast-fed. For each additional year of breast-feeding, there was an additional 15 percent decreased risk.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.