母乳喂养可能会降低母亲心脏病发作风险

Breastfeeding is not only healthy for babies, it may also reduce a mother’s risk of having a heart attack or stroke later in life, according to a new study of 300,000 Chinese women published Wednesday.

据周三公布的一项针对30万中国女性的研究报告，母乳喂养不仅对婴儿有益，还可能降低母亲患心脏病或中风的风险。

Those who breastfed their babies had about a 10 percent lower risk of developing heart disease or stroke compared to those who did not, and the longer they breastfed, the greater effects they had, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

根据《美国心脏协会杂志》上发表的研究报告，那些母乳喂养婴儿的人发生心脏病或中风的风险比那些没有母乳喂养的人要低10％左右，而且母乳喂养的时间越长，受益越多。

"The findings should encourage more widespread breastfeeding for the benefit of the mother as well as the child," study co-author Zhengming Chen, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Oxford, said in a statement.

牛津大学流行病学教授Zhengming Chen表示：“研究结果应该鼓励更多的母乳喂养和母婴喂养。”

"The study provides support for the World Health Organization’s recommendation that mothers should breastfeed their babies exclusively for their first six months of life," Chen said.

Chen说：“这项研究支持世界卫生组织的建议，即宝宝的前6个月应当纯母乳喂养。”

Previous studies have suggested that mothers get short-term health benefits from breastfeeding, such as weight loss and lower cholesterol, blood pressure and glucose levels after pregnancy. However, the long-term effects of breastfeeding on the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases in mothers are unclear.

以前的研究表明，母亲从母乳喂养获得短期的健康益处，如减肥，降低胆固醇，妊娠后血压和血糖水平。 然而，母乳喂养对母亲患心血管疾病风险的长期影响尚不清楚。

In the new study, researchers from the University of Oxford, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking University studied 300,000 Chinese women aged 30 to 79 years, as part of a large prospective cohort study called the China Kadoorie Biobank, which provided detailed information about their reproductive history and other lifestyle factors.

在这项新研究中，来自牛津大学，中国医学科学院和北京大学的研究人员研究了30万名30至79岁的中国女性，名为中国嘉道理生物库，这是大型前瞻性队列研究的一部分，该研究提供了被研究人员的生殖史和其他生活方式因素等详细信息。

After eight years of follow-up, there were 16,671 cases of coronary heart disease which includes heart attacks, and 23,983 stroke cases among the 290,000 women who had no previous history of cardiovascular disease when enrolled in the study.

经过八年的随访，在参加研究的29万名没有既往心血管疾病史的女性中，有16,671例冠心病（包括心脏病发作）和23,983例卒中病例。

The researchers found that compared to women who had never breastfed, mothers who breastfed their babies had a nine percent lower risk of heart disease and an eight percent lower risk of stroke.

研究人员发现，与未曾母乳喂养的女性相比，母乳喂养婴儿的母亲患心脏病的风险降低了9％，中风风险降低了8％。

Among mothers who breastfed each of their babies for two years or more, heart disease risk was 18 percent lower and stroke risk was 17 percent lower than among mothers who never breastfed.

在母乳喂养婴儿两年以上的母亲中，心脏病风险降低了18％，中风风险比未母乳喂养的母亲低17％。

Each additional six months of breastfeeding per baby was associated with a four percent lower risk of heart disease and a three percent lower risk of stroke, the researchers said.

研究人员说，对每个婴儿每六个月进行一次母乳喂养，心脏病风险就降低4％，中风风险降低3％。

"Although we cannot establish the casual effects, the health benefits to the mother from breastfeeding may be explained by a faster ’reset’ of the mother’s metabolism after pregnancy," said study co-author Sanne Peters, research fellow at the University of Oxford.

研究报告的合著者，牛津大学研究员桑内.彼得斯（Sanne Peters）说：“虽然我们不能确定随机效应，但母乳喂养对母亲的健康益处可能是由于母亲在怀孕后更快地‘重新设置’新陈代谢所致。”

"Pregnancy changes a woman’s metabolism dramatically as she stores fat to provide the energy necessary for her baby’s growth and for breastfeeding once the baby is born. Breastfeeding could eliminate the stored fat faster and more completely, "Peters added.

彼得补充说：“孕妇在储存脂肪的过程中，会极大地改变女性的新陈代谢，为婴儿的生长提供必要的能量并在婴儿出生后提供母乳喂养。母乳喂养可以更快、更彻底地消除储存的脂肪。”