Kiss Me Baby One More Time

I caught the news the other day that Britney Spear's little sister, Jamie Lynn, is pregnant.  A lot of people are up in arms about her becoming pregnant at such a young age of 16.  But for me, this incident highlights a much bigger health issue.

Breast cancer rates in industrialized societies are on the rise.  And even though I see lots of promotions about finding a cure, I don't think the basic information about prevention is out there.  The physiological function of the breasts is breastfeeding.  So right there you would think there should be a connection between a women's reproductive behavior and breast cancer.

From the little research I've done, there are many factors that contribute to breast cancer.  Genetic, environmental, and diet factors all play a role.  But the most obvious risk factors related to reproduction should be highlighted.  To reduce risks in this way, the research says a woman should:

• Start having children earlier than later
• Breastfeed as long as possible
• Have mutiple children

For example, this new study shows how the rising age of first birth for a woman contributes to breast cancer risk.  And here's a good article that mentions how breast cancer was originally thought to be primarily a disease of nuns, due to their childlessness.

For ancient hunter-gatherers without birth control, women had children at a much younger age than they do now.  According to this study, forager women were around 19 years old when they first gave birth.  So a 16-year-old getting pregnant is not unnatural from an evolutionary standpoint (though I am certainly not recommending it).

Like everyone else, I would like to see breast cancer eliminated.  But I think more people and organizations need to look at the issue through an evolutionary lens to accomplish the goal.