Breastfeeding your children is good for you, reduces the risk of multiple sclerosis

Many scientific researches have long concluded that breastfeeding carries multiple benefits not only for children, but also for mothers. One of the latest studies, carried out by the Kaiser Permanente Institute in California and published in full in the scientific journal Neurology, elucidated another valuable beneficial consequence, namely its high ability to reduce the risk of developing multiple sclerosis by as much as 50 percent. This condition, which affects the central nervous system causing a wide spectrum of symptoms, afflicts more than 100 thousand people in Italy alone.

The most common signs are problems with vision, fatigue, balance and disturbances in arm and leg movements. There is currently no cure for multiple sclerosis, nor is it totally clear what triggers the immune system’s attack on the layers that envelop and protect the nerves, thus altering the “messages” that travel along them. For research team leader Annette Langer-Gould, “Among the many benefits of breastfeeding, for both mother and child, is a marked reduction in the mother’s likelihood of developing multiple sclerosis.”.

During the research, the team sampled 397 women who had recently been diagnosed with the disease, and another 433 healthy.

All participants were asked to complete an extensive questionnaire regarding their pregnancies and breastfeeding. According to the findings, a positive alteration in the level of estrogen, the female hormone that, in pregnant women and those who continue to breastfeed, remains very low, occurs during the breastfeeding phase. As a result, the risk is drastically reduced, by 53 percent to be precise. “This study represents further evidence that women who are able to breastfeed their babies should be encouraged to do so,” added Langer-Gould.

In essence, for Giovanni D’Agata, president of the “Sportello dei Diritti”.one more reason to encourage breastfeeding for the many benefits that are not only psychological, but also concretely physical and preventive.