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Breast feeding, but not use of oral contraceptives, is associated with a reduced risk of rheumatoid arthritis

Pikwer, M. ; Bergström, Ulf LU ; Nilsson, Jan-Åke LU ; Jacobsson, Lennart LU ; Berglund, Göran LU and Turesson, Carl LU (2009) In Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 68(4). p.526-530
Abstract
Objective: To determine whether breast feeding or the use of oral contraceptives (OCs) affects the future risk of rheumatoid arthritis ( RA) in a community-based prospective cohort. Methods: A community-based health survey (18 326 women) was linked to regional and national registers, and incident cases of RA were identified. All women with a diagnosis of RA after inclusion in the health survey (n = 136) and four female controls for every case, who were alive and free from RA when the index person was given a diagnosis of RA, were included in a case-control study. Data on lifestyle factors at baseline were derived from a self-administered questionnaire. Potential predictors were examined in logistic regression models. Results: 136 women... (More)
Objective: To determine whether breast feeding or the use of oral contraceptives (OCs) affects the future risk of rheumatoid arthritis ( RA) in a community-based prospective cohort. Methods: A community-based health survey (18 326 women) was linked to regional and national registers, and incident cases of RA were identified. All women with a diagnosis of RA after inclusion in the health survey (n = 136) and four female controls for every case, who were alive and free from RA when the index person was given a diagnosis of RA, were included in a case-control study. Data on lifestyle factors at baseline were derived from a self-administered questionnaire. Potential predictors were examined in logistic regression models. Results: 136 women with incident RA were compared with 544 age-matched controls. A longer history of breast feeding was associated with a reduced risk of RA ( OR 0.46 (95% CI 0.24 to 0.91) for women who had breast fed for >= 13 months and OR 0.74 ( 95% CI 0.45 to 1.20) for those who had breast fed for 1-12 months, compared with those who had never breast fed). The protective effect of longer breast feeding remained significant after adjustment for smoking and level of education in multivariate models, and point estimates were protective also when the analyses were restricted to parous women. Neither parity nor OC use had any significant effect on the risk of RA. Conclusion: In this study, long-term breast feeding, but not OC use, was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of RA. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
volume
68
issue
4
pages
526 - 530
publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • wos:000264196000013
  • pmid:18477739
  • scopus:65249126889
  • pmid:18477739
ISSN
1468-2060
DOI
10.1136/ard.2007.084707
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
80ade295-a818-48d5-b284-fd65e61bf921 (old id 1405110)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18477739?dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 15:05:37
date last changed
2022-04-06 22:13:54
@article{80ade295-a818-48d5-b284-fd65e61bf921,
  abstract     = {{Objective: To determine whether breast feeding or the use of oral contraceptives (OCs) affects the future risk of rheumatoid arthritis ( RA) in a community-based prospective cohort. Methods: A community-based health survey (18 326 women) was linked to regional and national registers, and incident cases of RA were identified. All women with a diagnosis of RA after inclusion in the health survey (n = 136) and four female controls for every case, who were alive and free from RA when the index person was given a diagnosis of RA, were included in a case-control study. Data on lifestyle factors at baseline were derived from a self-administered questionnaire. Potential predictors were examined in logistic regression models. Results: 136 women with incident RA were compared with 544 age-matched controls. A longer history of breast feeding was associated with a reduced risk of RA ( OR 0.46 (95% CI 0.24 to 0.91) for women who had breast fed for >= 13 months and OR 0.74 ( 95% CI 0.45 to 1.20) for those who had breast fed for 1-12 months, compared with those who had never breast fed). The protective effect of longer breast feeding remained significant after adjustment for smoking and level of education in multivariate models, and point estimates were protective also when the analyses were restricted to parous women. Neither parity nor OC use had any significant effect on the risk of RA. Conclusion: In this study, long-term breast feeding, but not OC use, was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of RA.}},
  author       = {{Pikwer, M. and Bergström, Ulf and Nilsson, Jan-Åke and Jacobsson, Lennart and Berglund, Göran and Turesson, Carl}},
  issn         = {{1468-2060}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{526--530}},
  publisher    = {{BMJ Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases}},
  title        = {{Breast feeding, but not use of oral contraceptives, is associated with a reduced risk of rheumatoid arthritis}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ard.2007.084707}},
  doi          = {{10.1136/ard.2007.084707}},
  volume       = {{68}},
  year         = {{2009}},
}