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Babies and women may be protected against developing
diabetes disease through breast feeding, according to new research. This current
study states that the longer women nursed, the lower their risks of developing
diabetes.
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Diabetes as a medical disorder characterized by varying or persistent elevated
blood sugar levels, especially due to eating, is a serious disease which
symptoms are very similar for all types of diabetes.
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Breast feeding is when a woman feeds a baby or a young child with milk produced
from her breasts. The best thing for feeding a baby is breast milk, as experts
say, if the mother does not have transmissible infections.
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Although study findings are not conclusive, researchers explain that
breast-feeding may change metabolism of mothers which may help keep blood sugar
levels stable and make the body more sensitive to the blood sugar-regulating
hormone insulin.
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This theory is based on some evidence that show that in rats and humans that are
breast-feeding, mothers have lower blood-sugar levels than those who did not
breast-feed.
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According to the study published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association, women who breast-fed for at least one year were about 15 per cent
less likely to develop diabetes type 2 than those who never breast-fed. For each
additional year of breast-feeding, there was an additional 15 per cent decreased
risk.
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A total of 157,000 nurses participated in the new study. They answered periodic
health questionnaires and were followed for at least 12 years. During the study,
6,277 participants developed type 2 diabetes.
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One of the best ways to prevent type 2 diabetes in children is to prevent childhood obesity, and recently published
research suggests breast-feeding infants could
help reduce the risks of both.
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A study of 10- to 21-year-old patients published in the March issue of Diabetes Care, the journal of the American Diabetes
Association, found that 31.3 percent who had type 2 diabetes had been breast-fed compared with 63.5 percent
of nondiabetic
patients.
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Researchers concluded that the reason for the reduced incidence of type 2 diabetes, a form of diabetes that often accompanies unhealthy weight
gain, in the
breast-fed group was by reducing the risk of childhood obesity. Breast-fed babies tend
to feel full sooner than those drinking from a bottle. Overfeeding among bottle-fed children has been shown to
increase the amount of insulin in the baby’s blood, which can lead to weight gain.
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The researchers also suspect that the chemicals found in plastic bottles and the nitrates in tap water can impair the cells in
the pancreas that produce insulin, which is the hormone that doesn’t work as it should in people who have
diabetes.
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Diabetes affects nearly 7 percent of people in the United States, and 90-95 percent have type 2 diabetes. This form of the disease used to be called “adult-onset
diabetes,” as it used to
only happen in older adults, 80 percent of whom were overweight.
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With the rates of childhood obesity on the rise, however, more and more children and adolescents are now receiving this
diagnosis. Treatment typically includes exercise; strict, permanent diet changes; or medication. Untreated,
diabetes can be deadly.
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We can help prevent diabetes and obesity by teaching our kids good eating habits, such as consuming fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and
lean meats, and
staying away from processed junk food and fast food. We can encourage them to exercise more and spend less time
sitting in front of a TV or computer.
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And, there’s a lot of evidence that we can help our children get off to a healthy start through breast-feeding them in
infancy. More than two decades of research have shown many benefits — lower rates of hospital admissions,
ear infections,
diarrhea, rashes, allergies and, now, type 2 diabetes. Plus, nursing allows for bonding between mother and child,
and can help new mothers lose extra pregnancy weight by using up extra calories.
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For mothers who are able to breast-feed, this natural process is just one more
step we can take to help our children and the health of our nation
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