Newsletter Archives

This month marks the one year anniversary of our News-Letter! Yay. Thank you so much for making it such a great part of GBM.

Prolonged breastfeeding helps prevent rheumatoid arthritis
-Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an inflammatory disease of the immune system, is between two and four times more likely to strike women than men.
Among women, RA is more likely to develop when reproductive hormonal levels are changing, such as in the first few months following a pregnancy and around the time of menopause. Although previous researchers have studied this topic, the relationship between hormones and the risk of developing RA remains unclear.

Seeking more conclusive evidence, a team of researchers led by Dr. Elizabeth Karlson at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston drew on a large sample – 121,700 women – to explore the contribution of hormonal factors occurring prior to the onset of RA and the impact of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy on the risk of disease Their findings, published in the November 2004 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, strongly support the lasting benefits of breastfeeding in protecting against the disease. What's more, the researchers identified a new risk factor for RA: irregular menstrual cycles.

The study's subjects were all women enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study, a sweeping investigation of disease, health, and lifestyle, ongoing since 1976. Through extensive questionnaires, the research team documented each woman's reproductive history with attention to potential RA risk factors, including age at menarche, age at first birth, history of breastfeeding, use of oral contraceptives, and regularity of menstrual cycles and in older women studied the use of estrogen after menopause. Among these women, the researchers confirmed 674 RA patients, diagnosed anywhere between 1976 and 2002. Most of the women were middle-aged at disease onset; the mean age was 56 years.

Upon analyzing the data, adjusting for variables such age and cigarette smoking, the researchers noted several interesting trends. One of the strongest was a decreasing risk of RA with increasing duration for breastfeeding. Looking at total lifetime breastfeeding, regardless of number of children, women who had breast-fed for between 13 and 23 months had a 20 percent reduction in the risk of RA compared with women who did not breastfeed. Women who had breast-fed for at least 24 months – two full years out of their childbearing years – increased their risk reduction to 50 percent. "Our data suggest breast-feeding confers long lasting protection against developing RA," Dr. Karlson states, "because the mean time since the last pregnancy among women with RA was 25 years."

In addition, women who experienced irregular menstrual cycles between the ages of 20 and 35 were shown to have an increased risk of subsequent RA. Women who had begun menstruating at an early age, 10 or younger, were more likely to develop seropositive RA. The study's results did not show any association between a history of oral contraceptive use and disease risk, or any significant differences in disease risk related to a woman's number of pregnancies.

Focusing on the sample of RA patients, compared to women who did not develop RA, the researchers confirmed that the risk of RA increases with age and demonstrated a peak risk at the typical time of menopause, age 50 to 54. Because the onset of RA often coincides with menopause, some studies have linked the disease to falling estrogen levels, indicating the potential benefits of estrogen therapy. In this study, however, estrogen therapy among postmenopausal women did not protect against RA.

"These findings suggest avenues for further research into the hormonal mechanisms involved in RA, because the complex relationships between RA and reproductive hormones clearly warrant further study," Dr. Karlson concludes.

~Quote of the month~
"Breastfeeding is a gift of love from mother to child."
-A sig at Mothering

~Tuesday is Chat day~
All members are welcome to join in on weekly chats.
Chat times are...
Daytime: 2-4pm EST
Night: 8-10pm EST
If you go to chat and you are all alone, then post a reminder on the board, and someone will join you :)
Make sure to use your current user name so we know who you are!
~Happy Chatting~

~From our message board~
Great threads, please join in.

~Secret Santa info~
Don't forget -
*Send at least 3 electronic greetings revealing clues of your identity from the start until the end of the swap to your person
*Send a homemade gift (yes, crafted in some way by you - and yes you may have assistance- but only from your children!) to your person
*Stay under $10 plus shipping and mail to your person anytime before January 1, 2005, hopefully with the goal of getting there as close to the holidays as possible

~Recipe of the month~
Thank you Steph H

Apple Cream Crumble Pie

1 Single Crust Recipe of Your Favorite Pie Crust
5 Large Baking Apples (about 3 pounds)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ c. sugar (for filling)
2 tablespoons flour (for filling)
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ c. sugar (for topping)
½ c. flour (for topping)
½ c. (1 stick) butter or margarine
1 c. heavy whipping cream

Prepare piecrust. Roll out to 12-inch circle; fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim overhang to ½ inch, turn under flush with rim, and flute.

Pare, quarter and core apples, then halve each quarter crosswise. (You should have about 7 cups.) Place in large bowl; sprinkle lemon juice over.

Mix ½ c. sugar, 2 tbsp flour, and nutmeg in a cup. Sprinkle over apples, tossing to coat well; spoon into prepared shell.

Combine ½ c. sugar and 1/3 c. flour in small bowl. Cut in butter or margarine until crumbly; sprinkle over apples. Cover pie loosely with foil. Place on large cookie sheet for easy handle (and to catch drips!).

Bake in 425 degree oven for 45 minutes; uncover and drizzle ½ c. cream over pie. Bake 15 minutes longer, until pie is golden. Remove pie from oven and place on wire rack. Drizzle remaining ½ c. cream over top. Cool about 1 hour or until filling is set.

Note: This pie gets very messy because the cream invariable drips over the side. But it is SOOO worth it—it’s the best apple pie I’ve ever had!

Member spotlight
Ms. Frizzle

What is your earliest memory of breastfeeding?
When I was about 7 we were visiting relatives and we are all sitting around watching 'Grease' A lady, I don't remember who, was sitting on the couch breastfeedng a tiny baby.
When I was 12 my mom had a hippie friend who was nursing her 3 year old, and I remember asking her so many questions, amd I remember thinking how neat it was.

Where did you grow up?
North bay, Ontario. But there was a 3 year period where we lived in Alberta, BC, and Manitoba. We also lived in Portland OR for a while on my dad's step dad'd bird farm. I went to school, and the American kids teased me cause I was from Canada and they called me an illegal alien. Whatevah!

What is your dream job?
Midwife.

How do family and friends react to your nursing?
I have a few relatives who say stupid things, but I make it no secret to any one that I nursed Logan till he was 5, and Lucas will nurse as long as he wants.

Do you have problems nursing in public or in front of people?
Not at all. I can't imagine useing a blanket to cover my beautiful baby while he eats. I'm not ashamed, and I will not hide it,

What is your favorite thing about being a mom?
The trust that my kids have for me. I love knowing that no matter what happens, my babies know that they can trust me to make sure they are protected.

~Parenting humor~
Thank you Evan's Mama

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We are looking for breastfeeding stories, birth stories, and photos for our nursing photo album. Please email submissions to Ms. Frizzle or Quinn