Breastfeeding and atherosclerosis: intima-media thickness and plaques at 65-year follow-up of the Boyd Orr cohort.
OBJECTIVE
The impact of breastfeeding in infancy on cardiovascular disease risk is uncertain. We related breastfeeding in infancy to atherosclerosis in adulthood.


RESULTS
A historic cohort study based on a 65-year follow-up of the Carnegie (Boyd Orr) survey of diet and health in prewar Britain, 1937 to 1939. A total of 732 eligible cohort members living in or around Aberdeen, Bristol, Dundee, Wisbech, and London were invited for follow-up examinations in 2002, and 405 (55%) participated. In models controlling for age and sex, breastfeeding was inversely associated with common carotid intima-media thickness (IMT; difference -0.03 mm; 95% CI, -0.07 to 0.01), bifurcation IMT (difference -0.19 mm; 95% CI, -0.37 to -0.01), carotid plaque (odds ratio [OR], 0.52; 95% CI, 0.29 to 0.92), and femoral plaque (OR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.26 to 1.12), compared with bottle-feeding. Controlling for socioeconomic variables in childhood and adulthood, smoking and alcohol made little difference to effect estimates. Controlling for factors potentially on the causal pathway (blood pressure, adiposity, cholesterol, insulin resistance, and C-reactive protein) made little difference to observed associations.


CONCLUSIONS
Breastfeeding may be associated with a reduced risk of atherosclerosis in later life. Measurement error and power considerations limit the extent to which conclusions about the mechanisms underlying this relationship can be made.
Martin
Richard M
RM
Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. richard.martin@bristol.ac.uk
Ebrahim
Shah
S
Griffin
Maura
M
Davey Smith
George
G
Nicolaides
Andrew N
AN
Georgiou
Niki
N
Watson
Simone
S
Frankel
Stephen
S
Holly
Jeff M P
JM
Gunnell
David
D
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012042:Registries; D012307:Risk Factors; D012606:Scotland / Q000453:epidemiology; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D017540:Tunica Media / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D014463:Ultrasonography