Can breastfeeding an infant help protect him from developing IBD?

Question: Can breastfeeding an infant help protect him from developing IBD?

It is now known that breastfeeding can help protect an infant against many conditions, including infection, diarrhea, SIDS and juvenile diabetes. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies be breastfed for the first year of life. There is evidence that breastfeeding may also help protect against inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Answer: Several studies show that people with IBD -- Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis -- were more likely to not have been breastfed as infants. The authors of one analysis of several studies on breastfeeding and IBD conclude that this protective effect may actually be underestimated. They cite inconsistencies inherit in many of the published reports and call for research that studies breastfeeding in families that already have a history of IBD.

There was one study that showed that breastfeeding was associated with an increased risk of Crohn’s -- a finding which conflicts with the other evidence that breastfeeding protects against IBD. The authors were puzzled and speculate that their results could be because of the mother's exposure to environmental pollution which then enters into her breastmilk. Another possibility is that the study participants were already at a high risk of IBD because of their family history. The authors conclude, however, that their study should not be used as a reason to deter breastfeeding and that the benefits of breastfeeding on short- and- long-term health are substantial.

_Sources:

_{Baron S, Turck D, Leplat C, Merle V, Gower-Rousseau C, Marti R, Yzet T, Lerebours E, Dupas JL, Debeugny S, Salomez JL, Cortot A, Colombel JF. “ Environmental risk factors in paediatric inflammatory bowel diseases: a population based case control study.” Gut 2005 Mar 54:357-363. 2 Jul 2008.}

_{Corrao G, Tragnone A, Caprilli R, Trallori G, Papi C, Andreoli A, Di Paolo M, Riegler G, Rigo GP, Ferraù O, Mansi C, Ingrosso M, Valpiani D. “Risk of inflammatory bowel disease attributable to smoking, oral contraception and breastfeeding in Italy: a nationwide case-control study. Cooperative Investigators of the Italian Group for the Study of the Colon and the Rectum (GISC).” Int J Epidemiol 1998 Jun 27:397-404. 2 Jul 2008.}

_{Klement E, Cohen RV, Boxman J, Joseph A, Reif S. “Breastfeeding and risk of inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review with meta-analysis.” Am J Clin Nutr 2004 Nov 80:1342-1352. 2 Jul 2008.}