A mother of a newborn may know well, why and when to stop her child breastfeed-the nurse and the doctors nay have given her with all reasons and consequence. True, there is nothing good a food for a child then his mother’s milk. This health suggestion for a child may work good for a woman as well, especially if she ever found to be developing rheumatoid arthritis! Breast feeding for as long a period as thirteen months or more can eventually reduce a mother’s risk of developing the painful disease. Explaining the study, lead researcher Dr Mitra Keshavarz, of Malm Hospital University, Sweden, said Whilst other studies suggest that hormonal factors play a part in the development of RA, and we know that pregnancy can result in an improvement in RA symptoms, we wanted to investigate the long term effect of breast-feeding. This study specifically highlights the potential of naturally-induced hormones in protecting individuals from developing RA in the future. Furthermore, it adds to the growing body of evidence in favour of breast feeding and its positive health implications — this time demonstrating its protective benefits for the mother. Presented at the EULAR 2007 — the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Barcelona, Spain – the study provides hope for would-be-mothers from developing Rheumatoid Arthritis risks by feeding their babies for a period of at least 13 months. Image