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Lactation improves mothers' cholesterol profile
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Some of the adverse impact of pregnancy on HDL ("good") cholesterol levels may be offset by lactation, suggests a new study.
Lactation "may be beneficial for women in reducing their future risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes," Dr. Erica P. Gunderson told Reuters Health.
Gunderson, at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California, and her colleagues report their findings in the medical journal Obstetrics and Gynecology. They studied 1051 women over a period of three years. In that time, 942 women did not become pregnant while 109 women gave birth. Among the pregnant women, 48 did not lactate and 61 lactated and weaned their infants.
On average, the women who bore a child had greater (i.e., undesirable) decreases in HDL cholesterol than non-pregnant women, Gunderson explained.
However, lactation -- particularly a longer duration of lactation -- was associated with significantly smaller decreases in HDL.
Women who didn't lactate and those who lactated for less than 3 months had a decrease in HDL cholesterol that "equates to an increase in coronary heart disease risk of 14 to 21 percent," Gunderson pointed out.
Average changes in LDL ("bad") cholesterol, triglycerides and insulin levels also tended to be more favorable with longer duration of lactation.
This study, the investigators conclude, suggests that lactation "may attenuate the unfavorable metabolic risk factor changes that occur with pregnancy, with effects apparent after weaning."
SOURCE: Obstetrics and Gynecology, March 2007.
Reuters Health