Breastfeeding has multiple benefits for the baby, but these are not limited to him: mothers also benefit from breastfeeding their children, although perhaps not all are so well known.
Now, a new study adds yet another benefit of breastfeeding for them, as it was found that breastfeeding could help prevent cognitive decline in mothers in the long term.
The study
Published in the journal Evolution, Medicine and Public Health , the study looked at the relationship between women’s breastfeeding history and their postmenopausal cognitive performance.
“ Because breastfeeding has been found to help regulate stress, promote bonding with the baby, and reduce the risk of postpartum depression , suggesting acute neurocognitive benefits for the mother, we suspect that it could also be associated with a long-term superior cognitive performance , ”explains Dr. Molly Fox, lead author of the study in a statement.
To find out, the researchers analyzed data collected from women over the age of 50 who participated in two clinical trials, in which they performed various neuropsychological tests and answered a questionnaire about their reproductive life history, including how long they breastfed each of their children. sons.
Results from cognitive tests revealed that those who had breastfed performed better on four cognitive tests that included learning, memory delay, executive functioning and processing compared to women who had not breastfed.
The researchers also found a relationship between duration of breastfeeding and cognitive performance, as women who had breastfed the longest had the highest scores on cognitive tests .
” Our study is one of the few that has looked at the long-term health effects of women who breastfed their babies, ” explains Dr. Fox. ” Our findings, which show superior cognitive performance among women over 50 years of breastfeeding suggest that breastfeeding may be ‘neuroprotective’ later in life . “
The team clarifies that more studies are needed to continue exploring the relationship between breastfeeding and women’s cognitive performance in the long term , as “it is important to better understand the health implications of breastfeeding for women, given that women today they breastfeed less frequently and for shorter periods of time than was historically practiced . “
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