Study finds link between breastfeeding, rise in adult colorectal cancer risk

Study:

https://www.cghjournal.org/article/S1542-3565(23)00673-0/ful...

Summary:

A new study has found that individuals born in 1990 have four times the risk of developing colorectal cancer compared to those born in 1950. The study, conducted by researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, suggests that breastfeeding may be a contributing factor to the rise in colorectal cancer cases among individuals aged 50 and younger, with those who were breastfed as infants having a 23% greater risk of developing the disease as adults. However, the researchers caution that further study is needed and that this analysis should not discourage mothers from breastfeeding, as breast milk provides numerous health benefits.

Q&A with authors:

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/10/study-finds-l...

Too early to conclude anything, the authors say themselves that the problem might not necessarily come from the breastfeeding itself:

> Chen also looked at people who were not breastfed and got formula or cow’s milk > or whatnot. And those substances are fortified with things like vitamin D, > which has been linked to decreased risk of colorectal cancer as well as > improved survival from colorectal cancer. So, could it be not the breastfeeding > itself but actually what the non-breastfed infants were receiving as nutrition?

For all we know breastfeeding and giving kids more vitamin D might fix the issue.