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The Risk Factors of Colon & Rectal Cancer
Alcohol
In 1984 a large trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrated a 3-fold increase in risk of colorectal in men whose usual monthly consumption of beer was 500 oz (15 liters) or more.Smoking
A large Veterans Administration trial published last year (JAMA. 2003 Dec 10;290(22):2959-67) demonstrated a nearly 2-fold increase in colon cancer risk in patients who were actively smoking.Obesity
In 1995, the Harvard Medical School Department of Public Health published a trial that studied over 47000 people and their risk factors for colon cancer. Patients with a high hip-to-waist ratio, a measure of obesity, had more than a 3-fold increase in colon cancer risk. Those with a waist size greater than 42 inches had a 2-fold increase risk of cancer. In addition, physical activity was found to reduce the risk of cancer by half.Diabetes
Studies presented at the 2004 Digestive Disease Week meeting demonstrated that people with diabetes have a 32% increase risk of colon cancer when compared to non-diabetics. This adds to information presented in the journal Gastroenterology in October 2004 which demonstrated that the use of insulin was associated with increased risk of colon cancer and that the duration of using insulin was important in determining risk. Patients receiving insulin for 3 years had a 3-fold increased risk of colon cancer.
1 comment:
500 oz is roughly 42 bottles of beer. Men who drink that much beer per month are probably engaging in a lot of other unhealthy behaviors, especially unhealthy diets, and forsaking exercise (other than walking into a bar). It would be interesting to see if moderate drinkers were at an increased risk for cancer when corrected for other dietary and ecercise factors. I drink, maybe, 42 beers per year, am neither obese nor diabetic, and exercise regularly. Yet here I am, at 43 y.o. with rectal cancer. So the conclusions drawn by these observational studies are, to me, rather weak.
BTW, I recently came across this blog and am now following it. Thank you for establishing and maintaining this resource.
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