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Scientists may have found meat link to colon cancer
Reuters on Yahoo ^ | 2/1/06 | Patricia Healey

Posted on 02/01/2006 8:45:27 PM PST by NormsRevenge

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists said on Tuesday they may have found a reason why eating too much red meat increases the risk of colorectal cancer.

By studying cells from volunteers eating different diets, they discovered that red meat raises levels of compounds in the large bowel, which can alter DNA and increase the likelihood of cancer.

"It is the first definite link between red meat and the very first stage in cancer," said Professor Sheila Bingham, of the Medical Research Council Dunn Nutrition Unit in Cambridge, England.

In earlier research, Bingham and her team showed there was a strong correlation between eating red and processed meat and the risk of colon cancer.

The chance of developing colorectal cancer was a third higher in people who regularly ate more than two portions of red or processed meat a day compared to someone who ate less than one portion a week.

In their latest study, published in the journal Cancer Research, the scientists studied cells from the lining of the colon from people who consumed red meat, vegetarian, high red meat or high fibre diets for 15 days.

"We looked at whether eating red meat alters the DNA of these cells," Bingham told Reuters.

They found that red meat consumption was linked to increased levels of substances called N-nitrosocompounds, which are formed in the large bowel. The compounds may stick to DNA, making it more likely to undergo mutations that increase the odds of cancer.

The DNA damage may be repaired naturally in the body, and fibre in the diet may help the process. But if it isn't, cancer can develop, Bingham said.

The scientists said the findings could help to develop a screening test for very early changes related to the disease.

Colorectal is one of the most common cancers in developed countries. More than 940,000 cases are diagnosed each year and about 492,000 people die from the illness, according to the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC) in Lyon, France.

A diet rich in fat, animal protein and refined carbohydrates and lack of exercise are risk factors for the illness. Most cases are in people over 60 years old and about 5 percent of them are inherited.

Health experts estimate that about 70 percent of colorectal cancers could be prevented by changes in diet and nutrition. Diarrhoea, constipation and rectal bleeding can be symptoms.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cancer; colon; colorectal; link; nitrosocompound; redmeat; scientists
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To: ARealMothersSonForever

Check my homepage, you'll see three very healthy vegans. You just have to be smart about it (Oh, and I'm not one of the vegans) :)


41 posted on 02/02/2006 7:27:21 AM PST by najida (Some days I meltdown faster than chocolate.)
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To: AmericaUnited
" Isn't this a very flawed/misleading study??!! Aren't N-nitrosocompounds due to nitrites or nitrates in the meat and not the meat itself?"

Yes. PETA needed a study though, so this kind of study works for them.

42 posted on 02/02/2006 7:29:52 AM PST by spunkets
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To: NormsRevenge

Colon cancer should not be a major cause of mortality within ten years. I predict deaths per year will go under 10,000.

The reason is that if polyps are removed before they become malignant, it's very unlikely for cancer to develop. And polyps are often in the colon for many years before becoming cancerous.

The key, therefore, is early detection. Methods of detection are getting better and cheaper. In ten years, it's very possible that as part of an annual exam, a patient will get a CT scan that will be able to detect any polyps. The only ones who will die of colon cancer are those too foolish to have a painless CT scan once a year and those who are extremely unlucky and have some unusual form of cancer that is not detectable.

Here's a question, however. Let's say we get to the point in twenty years that:

1. Detection methods and improved treatment mean that heart problems are more of an inconvenience than a life-threatening ailment for people under the age of 80.

2. Improved detection, surgical techniques, and drugs mean that prostate cancer is neither life-threatening nor much of an impediment to lifestyle.

3. Improved detection causes a significant cut to the risk of mortality from breast cancer.

4. The aforementioned CT scan takes out most of the risk of colon cancer.

If that were all true, a nonsmoker would have a greatly reduced chance of premature death. All the leading cancer killers would be much less of a threat, as would heart disease. Would people be rational actors and then start eating terrible diets to their heart's content? There's some evidence to suggest people are doing that already as treatment for heart disease improves.




43 posted on 02/02/2006 7:58:38 AM PST by Our man in washington
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To: Sender
Vegetarian Myths
44 posted on 02/02/2006 8:00:51 AM PST by JTHomes
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To: Sender
I worked with a vegan health nut for several years. He insisted not only

Annual all-causedeath rate of vegetarian men higher than for non-vegetarian men.

"Death Rates of Vegetarians," Am. Jnl Epidemiol. 97:372 (1973)

45 posted on 02/02/2006 8:11:59 AM PST by JTHomes
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To: spunkets

This is like saying orange juice is bad for you because they did a study of people who drank 8 Screwdrivers daily for a year.


46 posted on 02/02/2006 9:17:06 AM PST by AmericaUnited
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To: NormsRevenge

"I'll have the roast duck with mango salsa."


47 posted on 02/02/2006 9:20:51 AM PST by ko_kyi
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To: Our man in washington
Would people be rational actors and then start eating terrible diets to their heart's content?

I always follow a double-beef cheese and bacon with a Lipitor.

48 posted on 02/02/2006 9:23:13 AM PST by King Moonracer (Feudalism never ended, all hail the landed gentry.)
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To: ARealMothersSonForever

I know quite a few vegetarians who don't eat a speck of meat but do ingest milk products and in general I'd say they are healthier and not as many overweight ones as a random pick of the general population. Also know a bunch of kids who've grown up that way and mostly a very healthy bunch so far - some awesome athletes among them.


49 posted on 02/02/2006 10:39:42 AM PST by little jeremiah
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To: little jeremiah

"A vegetarian with dairy products is a very healthy way to live as long as it's not a junk food diet."

It's not a good universal diet. It's healthy for some people, not for others.

In fact, there is no universal diet. The diet for you is the one that most of your ancestors have lived eaten, because you are the sum total of their progeny (survival of the fittest means the fitter ones passed their genes on to you). So, for example, if your ancestors have lived for hundreds of years on meat, milk, a small amount of berries, and blood as they do in some parts of Africa, then that's still the healthiest diet for you, not some western ideal of a good diet. Conversely, the vegetarian diet is best for people from India, because that's what their ancestors have been eating for centuries.

It's called Metabolic Typing. For more info:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0767905644/103-2167055-4567010?v=glance&n=283155


50 posted on 02/02/2006 10:52:32 AM PST by webstersII
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To: wideminded

"My grandmother had an incredible garden that provided fresh vegetables, fruits, and salads. She ate meat but I don't recall her over-indulging. Nevertheless she got colon cancer."

It may be due to lack of selenium in the soil. Certain areas of the US are badly deficient in it so it's good to take supplements.


51 posted on 02/02/2006 10:54:57 AM PST by webstersII
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To: ARealMothersSonForever

You can't be healthy if all you eat is veggies... there are just certain neccessary nutrients that you cannot get from plants. There is a reason we have incisors.

Diet and excercise are the best... I don't care if folks are Vegan/Vegetarian myself... just don't try to push it on the rest of us, and for God's sake recognize your kids NEED FAT AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS WHEN THEY ARE YOUNG!!

Nothing worse than seeing a kid who is lagging behind in motor skills, size, and brain development because their fruitcake parents are denying them essential things that while not great for adults are absolutely essential for children.


52 posted on 02/02/2006 10:57:06 AM PST by HamiltonJay
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To: webstersII
It may be due to lack of selenium in the soil. Certain areas of the US are badly deficient in it

This was in England but you could be on the right track. I remember the soil there was very sandy.

53 posted on 02/02/2006 11:06:01 AM PST by wideminded
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To: NormsRevenge

That steak picture brings to mind the old song, "If loving you is wroooonnnnnggg, I don't wanna be riiighhht..."


54 posted on 02/02/2006 11:07:32 AM PST by linda_22003
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To: ARealMothersSonForever

hehe :D


55 posted on 02/02/2006 11:44:07 AM PST by Stellar Dendrite (There's nothing "Mainstream" about the Orwellian Media!!!)
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To: NormsRevenge

Hmm.

Well, I want steak tonight anyway.


56 posted on 02/02/2006 11:44:55 AM PST by RockinRight (Attention RNC...we're the party of Reagan, not FDR...)
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To: BrandtMichaels

I am a firm believer in main stream medical science, but my girlfriend claims that acupuncture cured her of serious kidney disease when all other attempts at treatment failed. Perhaps remission simply came from cyptogenic causes, but I certainly keep an open mind. I have heard otherwise quite sane friends praise chiropractic maneuvering, and while some call this sort of thing quackery, I wouldn't hesitate to get a "treatment" if I had a disease that didn't respond to accepted medical procedures.


57 posted on 02/02/2006 12:00:49 PM PST by ashtanga
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To: little jeremiah
Vegetarians have not thought things through. We were meant to eat flesh, including a bit of animal fat as well. I have a dab of high quality butter every night with my meal. I have a whole boiled egg every other day or so, and drink a bit of cod liver oil throughout the day. I also do a workout that would make a twenty-year old man faint, so I really need quality protein. I eat no grain, save for a rice cake here and there, unsalted. Giving up beer was rather rough.
58 posted on 02/02/2006 12:09:13 PM PST by ashtanga
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To: ARealMothersSonForever

My Father was very careful about what he put in his body. Didn't drink, smoke...he didn't each much meat...everything in moderation, really. He died of Colon Cancer, a cancer they told us had been in his body for a very long time. He also had bladder cancer and prostate cancer. Sometimes I just think it's the luck of the draw.


59 posted on 02/02/2006 12:10:57 PM PST by Hildy (The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth)
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To: ashtanga

Do you do ashtanga?


60 posted on 02/02/2006 12:13:47 PM PST by dennisw ("What one man can do another can do" - The Edge)
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