Breastfeed to keep MS at bay

Breastfeeding for at least two months after pregnancy can help prevent disease relapse in women with multiple sclerosis (MS).

MS is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) that affects women in their childbearing years. Women with MS are at a high risk of relapse in the postpartum period. Whether breastfeeding is beneficial or harmful in MS is not certain.

A study was conducted to determine if exclusive breastfeeding protects against postpartum relapses of MS and, if so, whether this protection is related to prolonged lactational amenorrhea (LAM). LAM is a contraceptive method that is based on the natural postpartum infertility that occurs when a woman is amenorrheic and fully breastfeeding. Amenorrhœa is the absence of a menstrual period in a woman of reproductive age.

Researchers from America identified 29 pregnant women with multiple sclerosis and 29 similar women without the disease. The women were either less than 35 weeks pregnant or planning for pregnancy. The women were interviewed about their feeding practices at 2, 4, 6, 9 and 12 months after pregnancy. The women were also questioned about their medical and reproductive history and changes in neurological status, breastfeeding and supplemental feeding behaviours, menstrual history, medical history, and medication use.

Fourteen women with MS breastfed for at least 2 months after delivery and 15 did not. The disease relapse rate in the former group was 36 percent, much lower than the 87 percent rate seen in the latter. Exclusive breastfeeding was similarly protective even in women who were taking drugs for severe MS. The findings indicate that women who did not breastfeed for at least 2 months were seven times more likely to experience a relapse than their peers who did. The most common reason for not breastfeeding, cited by 60 percent of women, was to resume multiple sclerosis therapies.

The findings suggest that the beneficial effects of exclusive breastfeeding on MS relapses are related to prolonged lactational amenorrhea due to hormonal influence. Exclusive breastfeeding results in high prolactin levels, low luteinizing hormone levels, and ovarian suppression (lack of ovulation and markedly reduced levels of estrogen and progesterone).

The results of this study suggest that women with multiple sclerosis should be encouraged to breastfeed exclusively for at least the first 2 months postpartum in lieu of starting treatment shortly after delivery.