Journal
JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY
Volume 262, Issue 5, Pages 1271-1277Publisher
SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
DOI: 10.1007/s00415-015-7704-9
Keywords
Multiple sclerosis; Breastfeeding; Case-control studies; Risk factors; Epidemiology
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Funding
- The Italian MS Society/Foundation (Fondazione Italiana Sclerosi Multipla, FISM) [2007/R/14, 2008/R/19]
- Western Norway Regional Health Authority (Helse Vest) Norway [911421/2008, 911474/2009]
- University of Bergen, Norway
- Norwegian MS Society
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Breastfeeding for at least 4 months has been found to be associated with a reduced risk of immune-mediated diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS). Using data from a large multinational case-control study (EnvIMS), the association between MS and breastfeeding was investigated in two distinct populations. A questionnaire (EnvIMS-Q) which included a section on feeding during the first year of life was administered to MS cases and to age and sex frequency-matched controls from Italy and Norway. Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratio (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CIs) as a measure of the association between MS and exposure to prolonged breastfeeding (4 months or more, used as the reference category), vs. no breastfeeding or breastfeeding for less than 4 months (reduced exposure). Education, smoking habits, smoking in mother's pregnancy, and other types of milk used in infant feeding were included as covariates. A total of 547 cases and 1039 controls in Italy, and 737 cases and 1335 controls in Norway were studied. The distribution of prolonged (reference) breastfeeding differed between the Norwegian (65.4 %) and the Italian (48.9 %) study participants. A significant association between MS and reduced/no exposure to breastfeeding was found overall for Italy (ORadj = 1.37; 95 % CI 1.09, 1.73), but not for Norway (ORadj = 1.14; 95 % CI 0.92, 1.40). However, only in men, significant associations were observed for both populations (ORItaly = 2.33; 95 % CI 1.50, 3.65, ORNorway = 2.13; 95 % CI 1.37, 3.30). Reduced exposure to breastfeeding in males was found to be associated with increased risk of MS in Italy and in Norway.
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