Breastfeeding protects against MS flare-ups
Larissa Melville completed her traineeship in the editorial team of . After studying biology at Ludwig Maximilians University and the Technical University of Munich, she first got to know digital media online at Focus and then decided to learn medical journalism from scratch.
More about the experts All content is checked by medical journalists.Breastfeeding is worthwhile for women with multiple sclerosis: Your hormonal balance reduces the risk of another flare-up while giving the breast - even if only for a limited time.
If women with multiple sclerosis (MS) are pregnant, they are often closed - the pregnancy hormones keep the unpleasant flare-ups in check. This protection can be extended, found out Kerstin Hellwig from the Ruhr University in Bochum and her colleagues.
To do this, the team analyzed the data from over 200 MS patients from the German multiple sclerosis and fertility registry. Almost 60 percent of the test subjects gave their child only the breast for at least two months after the birth, and around 21 percent also gave the bottle. The rest of the mothers gave up breastfeeding altogether. The extent to which the feeding method of the offspring had an influence on the mother's disease was observed for one year.
Fewer relapses in breastfeeding mothers
The result: In the first six months after giving birth, 38 percent of women who had not or only partially breastfed suffered an episode of the disease. Of the mothers who always gave the breast, only 24 percent got a thrust.
But the protection is not permanent: When the breastfeeding mothers began to give less breasts and feed complementary foods, the disease made itself felt again in them too. The reason for this is the changed hormone balance, which is also responsible, for example, for restarting the period, the scientists suspect.
"Our results show that consistent breastfeeding for a certain period of time can be a simple yet effective method against multiple sclerosis," the authors write. Women with MS who wish to breastfeed exclusively should be encouraged to do so, the experts add. On the other hand, women who do not want to give the breast are advised to resume treatment in the first two weeks after giving birth, which was often paused during pregnancy.
An autoimmune disease
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the nervous system that progresses in flares. This means that the symptoms always worsen in phases. The cause of the complaints is the body's own immune system: Defense cells, which are actually supposed to fight harmful viruses and bacteria, are instead directed against the body's own nerve fibers. The nerves are damaged and the transmission of nerve signals is prevented. Pain, paralysis as well as sensory and visual disturbances can be the result. However, the disease often progresses very differently from person to person.
The disease usually occurs between the ages of 20 and 40. It is estimated that around 130,000 people are affected in Germany - women twice as often as men. Medication can moderate the course, but not stop it.
Sources:
Hellwig K. et al .: Exclusive Breastfeeding and the Effect on Postpartum Multiple Sclerosis Relapses. JAMA. doi: 10.1001 / jamaneurol.2015.1806
German Multiple Sclerosis Society Bundesverband e.V., http://dmsg.de/multiple-sklerose-news/index.php?w3pid=news&ategorie=forschung&anr=5553, (accessed on 07.09.2015)
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