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History of breast feeding and risk of incident endometriosis: prospective cohort study

BMJ 2017; 358 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j3778 (Published 29 August 2017) Cite this as: BMJ 2017;358:j3778

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Prolactin inhibits ovulation and thus decreases risk of incident endometriosis

Prolactin is associated with the production of breast milk and is a hormone that also plays a role in fertility by inhibiting follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), the hormones that trigger ovulation and allow eggs to develop and mature. Endometriosis is estrogen dependent disease and is related to ovulation, thus inhibition of ovulation by prolactin will prevent/ inhibit endometriosis.

Competing interests: No competing interests

30 August 2017
Neeru Gupta
Scientist F
Neeta Kumar, Jugal Kishore
Indian Council of Medical Research