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{{B}}Breastfeeding Can Cut Cardiovascular (心血管的) Risk{{/B}} Breastfeeding can reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke later in life and could prevent hundreds of{{U}} (51) {{/U}}of deaths each year, researchers said on Friday. Babies who are breastfed have fewer childhood infections and allergies (过敏) and are less{{U}} (52) {{/U}}to obesity (肥胖). British scientists have now shown that breastfeeding and slow growth in the first weeks and months of life has a protective effect{{U}} (53) {{/U}}cardiovascular disease. "Diets that promote more rapid growth put babies at risk many years later in{{U}} (54) {{/U}}of raising their blood pressure, raising their cholesterol (胆固醇) and increasing their tendency to diabetes (糖尿病) and obesity —the{{U}} (55) {{/U}}main risk factors for stroke and heart attack," said Professor Alan Lucas of the Institute of Child Health in London. "Our evidence suggests that the reason why breast-fed babies do better is because they grow more{{U}} (56) {{/U}}in the early weeks. " Lucas said the effects of breastfeeding on blood pressure and cholesterol later in life are greater than{{U}} (57) {{/U}}adults can do to control the risk factors for cardiovascular disease, other than taking drugs. An estimated 17 million people die of{{U}} (58) {{/U}}disease, particularly heart attack and strokes, each year, according to the World Health Organization. Lucas and his colleagues compared the health of 216 teenagers{{U}} (59) {{/U}}as babies had either been breastfed or given different nutritional baby formulas. They reported their{{U}} (60) {{/U}}in The Lancet medical journal. The teenagers who had been{{U}} (61) {{/U}}had a 14-percent lower ratio of bad to good cholesterol and lower concentrations of a protein that is a marker for cardiovascular disease risk. The researchers also found that, {{U}}(62) {{/U}}of the child's weight at birth, the faster the infants grew in the early weeks and months of life, the{{U}} (63) {{/U}}was their later risk of heart disease and stroke. The effect was the{{U}} (64) {{/U}}for both boys and girls. "The more human milk you have in the newborn period, the lower your cholesterol level is, the lower your blood pressure is 16 years{{U}} (65) {{/U}}," Lucas said. |