Fish Oil Reduces Risk Of Blood Cancer By A Third

July 20, 2010

Natural News

By: S.L. Baker

When you look at statistics about breast cancer, it’s no wonder that the very mention of the disease causes dread in many women. After all, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) says about 210,000 Americans, almost all females, will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and about 40,000 will die from the disease. However, although it’s rarely reported in depth by the mainstream media, there’s actually a lot of good news accumulating about specific ways to stop breast cancer from ever developing in the first place.

For example, a mounting of body of data shows cruciferous vegetables like broccoli fight breast cancer (http://www.naturalnews.com/028822_b…) and six studies have shown eating an apple a day can reduce the risk of breast cancer, too (http://www.naturalnews.com/025685_c…). Now comes word of yet another natural substance that helps keep breast tumors away — scientists have discovered that fish oil can slash the chance a woman will get breast cancer by approximately a third.

How fish oil works to prevent breast cancer

The new study, just published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, was conducted by a research team at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington. They investigated 35,016 postmenopausal women between the ages of 50 and 76 with no history of breast cancer who were participating in the Vitamins and Lifestyle cohort study (dubbed VITAL, short). The woman was asked to complete a 24 page questionnaire about their use of supplements other than vitamins and/or minerals.

After six years of follow-up, 880 of these women had been diagnosed with breast cancer. However, those women who reported regularly taking fish oil supplements, which contain high levels of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, were found to have a 32 percent reduced risk of invasive ductal breast cancer — the most common type of breast cancer. The use of other specialty supplements, such as the herbs black cohosh and dong quai which are often taken by women to relieve symptoms of menopause, was not associated with raising or lowering breast cancer risk.

As NaturalNews has previously reported, fish oil has been found to have a host of remarkable health protective properties. For example, a study published in the European Heart Journal concluded that consuming fatty fish and the marine omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil protects men from heart failure. And fish oil has been

shown to be helpful in preventing mental illness, too (http://www.naturalnews.com/026130_h…).

click here to read full article

Coffee May Lower the Risk of Prostate Cancer

May 10, 2010

NaturalNews.com

by David Gutierrez

Men who drink coffee regularly may reduce their risk of the most dangerous form of prostate cancer, according to a study conducted by researchers from Harvard Medical School and presented at a Houston conference of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Prostate cancer kills more than 27,000 men in the United States each year, making it the second deadliest cancer in men, surpassed only by lung cancer. Roughly 200,000 new cases are diagnosed in the country each year.

“Few studies have looked prospectively at this association, and none have looked at coffee and specific prostate cancer outcomes,” said lead researcher Kathryn Wilson. “We specifically looked at different types of prostate cancer, such as advanced vs. localized cancer or high-grade vs. low-grade cancers.”

Researchers studied 50,000 men between 1986 and 2006, recording their coffee consumption once every four years. They found that the rate of advanced prostate cancer was 60 percent lower in those who drank six or more cups of coffee per day than in those who never consumed the beverage. Those who drank between four and five cups per day lowered their risk by 25 percent, while those who drank one to three cups lowered it by 20 percent.

The same risk reduction was seen regardless of whether the men drank caffeinated or non-caffeinated coffee.

No relationship was seen between coffee consumption and the risk of developing prostate cancer, only the risk of developing cancer that eventually progressed into an advanced stage. This might explain why prior studies have found no connection between coffee drinking and prostate cancer risk.

The researchers are unsure exactly how coffee affects cancer risk, although it may have something to do with levels of the sugar-regulating hormone insulin. High insulin levels have previously been correlated with prostate cancer risk, and coffee has been shown to increase the body’s use of the hormone.

Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the world. It is consumed by 54 percent of U.S. adults.

Click here to read the full article

Eating Meat Linked to Bladder Cancer

April 29, 2010

NaturalNews.com

S.L. Baker

No one wants cancer served up with their steak or hamburger. But that’s just what you may be getting. As NaturalNews has previously reported, numerous studies have linked meat consumption with cancer. Now comes evidence from scientists at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center that eating meat frequently, especially meat that is well done or cooked at high temperatures, significantly raises the risk of developing bladder cancer.

These research cancer findings, recently announced at the American Association for Cancer Research’s 101st Annual Meeting held in Washington, D.C., indicate that heterocyclic amines (HCAs), substances formed when meat (including beef, pork, poultry and fish) is cooked at high temperatures, may be what links meat to malignancies. Earlier research found strong evidence that 17 types of HCAs contribute to cancer.

“It’s well known that meat cooked at high temperatures generates HCAs that can cause cancer,” study presenter Jie Lin, Ph.D., assistant professor in M. D. Anderson’s Department of Epidemiology, said in a statement to the media. “We wanted to find out if meat consumption increases the risk of developing bladder cancer and how genetic differences may play a part.”

The M.D. Anderson researchers studied 884 patients with bladder cancer and 878 people who were cancer-free. The research subjects were matched by age, gender and ethnicity and followed for about 12 years. Using a standardized questionnaire designed by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the scientists documented each participant’s dietary habits. Those who ate the most red meat had about one and a half times the risk of developing bladder cancer than the research subjects who ate little or no red meat.

Beef steaks, pork chops and bacon raised bladder cancer risk the most. People who consumed a lot of well-done meat were at about twice the risk to develop bladder cancer as those who preferred rare meat. Even chicken and fish significantly upped the chances of getting cancer — but only if they were fried. The M.D. Anderson researchers also found that people with the highest estimated intake of three specific types of HCAs were more than two and a half times more likely to develop bladder cancer than those with a low intake of HCAs.

In addition, the researchers analyzed study participants’ DNA to see if there were genetic variations that would make some people particularly more likely to develop cancer if they ate red meat. The results showed that people with seven or more specific genotypes who consumed a diet full of red meat had five times the risk of bladder cancer.

“This research reinforces the relationship between diet and cancer,” lead author Xifeng Wu, M.D., Ph.D., professor in M. D. Anderson’s Department of Epidemiology, said in the media statement. “These results strongly support what we suspected: people, who eat a lot of red meat, particularly well-done red meat, such as fried or barbecued, seem to have a higher likelihood of bladder cancer. This effect is compounded if they carry high unfavorable genotypes in the HCA-metabolism pathway.”

Click here to read the full report

Drinking Alcohol Raises the Risk of Cancer

April 22, 2010

Telegraph

By: Richard Alleyne

Researchers have found that drinking damages part of the cells that are linked to premature ageing and cancer.

They discovered that it causes stress and inflammation to telomeres – the ends of DNA strands that stop them unravelling much like the ends of shoelaces.

As people age, telomere length shortens progressively and eventually they are so damaged the cell dies.

The study found alcohol accelerates this process.

Since telomere shortening is thought to also increase cancer risk, the researchers speculated that those with shorter telomeres due to heavy alcohol consumption would have an increased risk of cancer.

Andrea Baccarelli, the lead researcher at the University of Milan in Italy, said: “Heavy alcohol users tend to look haggard, and it is commonly thought heavy drinking leads to premature ageing and earlier onset of diseases of ageing.”

The researchers looked at more than 250 volunteers some of whom drank more than four alcoholic drinks per day.

They were similar in age and other factors that might affect telomere length, such as diet, physical exercise, work-related stress and environmental exposures.

Results showed that telomere length was dramatically shortened in those who consumed heavy amounts of alcohol. In some telomere length was nearly half as long as telomere length in the non-abusers.

Results of the study were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual conference.

Click here for the full report.

Overcooked Meat Doubles Bladder Cancer Risk

April 20, 2010

BBC News

Eating lots of meat, especially if it is overcooked, increases the risk of bladder cancer, say experts.

Frying, grilling and barbecuing until meat is charred can form cancer-causing chemicals, research shows.

In a study, people whose diets included well-done meats were over twice as likely to develop bladder cancer than those who preferred meats rare.

The research findings, based on over 1,700, people were presented at a US cancer research conference.

The University of Texas investigators found the risk was highest for those who ate well-done red meat such as steaks, pork chops and bacon.

But even chicken and fish, when fried, significantly raised the odds of cancer.

Three major types of the cancer-causing chemicals, collectively called heterocyclic amines (HCAs), raised cancer risk by more than two-and-a-half.

And some people appear to be genetically more susceptible to this diet-linked cancer risk, the researchers found.

In the study, which took place over 12 years, the researchers analysed the DNA of all the participants to look for any differences in the way individuals metabolised the cooked meat.

Having particular genes made some people almost five times as likely to develop bladder cancer when they ate a lot of red meat.

Stacking up risks

Lead author of the study, Professor Xifeng Wu, told the American Association for Cancer Research: “This research reinforces the relationship between diet and cancer.

“These results strongly support what we suspected – people who eat a lot of red meat, particularly well-done red meat, such as fried or barbecued, seem to have a higher likelihood of bladder cancer.”

According to the National Cancer Institute in the US, experts have identified 17 different HCAs that “may pose human cancer risk”.

Charred meat has already been linked to pancreatic cancer.

Cancer experts said that more research was needed before we can say for sure whether or not regularly eating red meat affects bladder cancer risk, and if the way it is cooked has an impact.

Slow-cook

Dr Panagiota Mitrou, of the World Cancer Research Fund, said: “When we looked at all the evidence on meat and cancer, it did not suggest meat increases risk of bladder cancer.

“There is, though, convincing evidence that red and processed meat increase risk of bowel cancer.

“This is why we recommend that people aim to limit consumption of red meat to 500g – cooked weight – per week and to avoid eating processed meat.”

Dr Alison Ross of Cancer Research UK said: “Smoking is the most important preventable cause of bladder cancer, so giving up is the best way to cut your chances of getting the disease.”

The UK Food Standards Agency says people can reduce their risk from chemicals that may cause cancer by not allowing flames to touch food when barbecuing or grilling, and cooking at lower temperatures for a longer time.

But warns that undercooked meat can cause food poisoning.

More than 10,000 new cases of bladder cancer are diagnosed each year in the UK.

Around 5,000 people die from it every year, and almost 90% of deaths are in people over 65.

Click here for the full report.