Breast-feeding and alcoholism: the Trotter hypothesis

D W Goodwin; W F Gabrielli; E C Penick; E J Nickel; S Chhibber; J Knop; Per Jensen; Fini Schulsinger

doi:10.1176/ajp.156.4.650

Breast-feeding and alcoholism: the Trotter hypothesis

D W Goodwin, W F Gabrielli, E C Penick, E J Nickel, S Chhibber, J Knop, Per Jensen, Fini Schulsinger

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The authors' goal was to determine whether early termination of breast-feeding contributes to later alcohol dependence, as proposed more than 200 years ago by the British physician Thomas Trotter.

METHOD: In 1959-1961, a multiple-specialty group of physicians studied 9, 182 consecutive deliveries in a Danish hospital, obtaining data about prepartum and postpartum variables. The present study concentrates on perinatal variables obtained from 200 of the original babies who participated in a 30-year high-risk follow-up study of the antecedents of alcoholism.

RESULTS: Of the 27 men who were diagnosed as alcohol dependent at age 30, 13 (48%) came from the group weaned from the breast before the age of 3 weeks; only 33 (19%) of the 173 non-alcohol-dependent subjects came from the early weaning group. When challenged by other perinatal variables in a multiple regression analysis, early weaning significantly contributed to the prediction of the severity of alcoholism at age 30.

CONCLUSIONS: The data support the hypothesis that early weaning may be associated with a greater risk of alcohol dependence later in life.

Original language	English
Journal	The American journal of psychiatry
Volume	156
Issue number	4
Pages (from-to)	650-2
Number of pages	3
ISSN	0002-953X
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.156.4.650
Publication status	Published - Apr 1999

Keywords

Adult
Age Factors
Alcoholism
Birth Weight
Breast Feeding
Cohort Studies
Denmark
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Male
Prevalence
Regression Analysis
Risk Factors
Severity of Illness Index
Social Class
Time Factors
Weaning

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10.1176/ajp.156.4.650

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title = "Breast-feeding and alcoholism: the Trotter hypothesis",

abstract = "OBJECTIVE: The authors' goal was to determine whether early termination of breast-feeding contributes to later alcohol dependence, as proposed more than 200 years ago by the British physician Thomas Trotter.METHOD: In 1959-1961, a multiple-specialty group of physicians studied 9, 182 consecutive deliveries in a Danish hospital, obtaining data about prepartum and postpartum variables. The present study concentrates on perinatal variables obtained from 200 of the original babies who participated in a 30-year high-risk follow-up study of the antecedents of alcoholism.RESULTS: Of the 27 men who were diagnosed as alcohol dependent at age 30, 13 (48\%) came from the group weaned from the breast before the age of 3 weeks; only 33 (19\%) of the 173 non-alcohol-dependent subjects came from the early weaning group. When challenged by other perinatal variables in a multiple regression analysis, early weaning significantly contributed to the prediction of the severity of alcoholism at age 30.CONCLUSIONS: The data support the hypothesis that early weaning may be associated with a greater risk of alcohol dependence later in life.",

keywords = "Adult, Age Factors, Alcoholism, Birth Weight, Breast Feeding, Cohort Studies, Denmark, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Male, Prevalence, Regression Analysis, Risk Factors, Severity of Illness Index, Social Class, Time Factors, Weaning",

author = "Goodwin, \{D W\} and Gabrielli, \{W F\} and Penick, \{E C\} and Nickel, \{E J\} and S Chhibber and J Knop and Per Jensen and Fini Schulsinger",

year = "1999",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1176/ajp.156.4.650",

language = "English",

volume = "156",

pages = "650--2",

journal = "The American journal of psychiatry",

issn = "0002-953X",

publisher = "American Psychiatric Association",

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T1 - Breast-feeding and alcoholism

T2 - the Trotter hypothesis

AU - Goodwin, D W

AU - Gabrielli, W F

AU - Penick, E C

AU - Nickel, E J

AU - Chhibber, S

AU - Knop, J

AU - Jensen, Per

AU - Schulsinger, Fini

PY - 1999/4

Y1 - 1999/4

N2 - OBJECTIVE: The authors' goal was to determine whether early termination of breast-feeding contributes to later alcohol dependence, as proposed more than 200 years ago by the British physician Thomas Trotter.METHOD: In 1959-1961, a multiple-specialty group of physicians studied 9, 182 consecutive deliveries in a Danish hospital, obtaining data about prepartum and postpartum variables. The present study concentrates on perinatal variables obtained from 200 of the original babies who participated in a 30-year high-risk follow-up study of the antecedents of alcoholism.RESULTS: Of the 27 men who were diagnosed as alcohol dependent at age 30, 13 (48%) came from the group weaned from the breast before the age of 3 weeks; only 33 (19%) of the 173 non-alcohol-dependent subjects came from the early weaning group. When challenged by other perinatal variables in a multiple regression analysis, early weaning significantly contributed to the prediction of the severity of alcoholism at age 30.CONCLUSIONS: The data support the hypothesis that early weaning may be associated with a greater risk of alcohol dependence later in life.

AB - OBJECTIVE: The authors' goal was to determine whether early termination of breast-feeding contributes to later alcohol dependence, as proposed more than 200 years ago by the British physician Thomas Trotter.METHOD: In 1959-1961, a multiple-specialty group of physicians studied 9, 182 consecutive deliveries in a Danish hospital, obtaining data about prepartum and postpartum variables. The present study concentrates on perinatal variables obtained from 200 of the original babies who participated in a 30-year high-risk follow-up study of the antecedents of alcoholism.RESULTS: Of the 27 men who were diagnosed as alcohol dependent at age 30, 13 (48%) came from the group weaned from the breast before the age of 3 weeks; only 33 (19%) of the 173 non-alcohol-dependent subjects came from the early weaning group. When challenged by other perinatal variables in a multiple regression analysis, early weaning significantly contributed to the prediction of the severity of alcoholism at age 30.CONCLUSIONS: The data support the hypothesis that early weaning may be associated with a greater risk of alcohol dependence later in life.

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KW - Age Factors

KW - Alcoholism

KW - Birth Weight

KW - Breast Feeding

KW - Cohort Studies

KW - Denmark

KW - Female

KW - Follow-Up Studies

KW - Humans

KW - Male

KW - Prevalence

KW - Regression Analysis

KW - Risk Factors

KW - Severity of Illness Index

KW - Social Class

KW - Time Factors

KW - Weaning

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/0032960425

U2 - 10.1176/ajp.156.4.650

DO - 10.1176/ajp.156.4.650

M3 - Journal article

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SN - 0002-953X

VL - 156

SP - 650

EP - 652

JO - The American journal of psychiatry

JF - The American journal of psychiatry

IS - 4

ER -

Breast-feeding and alcoholism: the Trotter hypothesis

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