[940] in Vegetarian_Support_Group
(vsg) details on the study which links meat and some cancers
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Matthew Krom)
Wed May 1 21:22:43 1996
To: vsg@MIT.EDU
From: krom@media.mit.edu (Matthew Krom)
Date: Wed, 01 May 96 21:22:07 EDT
To those interested in the medical research on reduced-meat or meatless
diets,
It's from the popular press (San Jose), but it's the only notice of
the study I've seen so far.
Matt
(vsg subscriptions: vsg-request@mit.edu)
------- Forwarded Message
Date: Wed, 01 May 96 20:16:51 -0400
From: Maynard Clark <vrc@tiac.net>
YET ANOTHER STUDY LINKS RED MEAT AND CANCER
Hamburger Called A Particular Culprit
Newsday article reported in the San Jose Mercury News
There is yet another reason to avoid eating too much
red meat, especially hamburger. In a study of more than
35,000 women up to age 69, researchers at the University
of Iowa found that those who ate more than four servings
of red meat a month had twice the risk of getting
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph system,
compared with those who had less than four servings.
Those who consumed the most hamburger had more than
twice the risk of the disease.
The study, published today in the Journal of the
American Medical Association, found that those who ate
the most fruit had lower incidence of the disease. This
is the first major study that has linked red meat with
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer that has increased 73
percent in the past two decades, especially among older
people. Other studies have linked red meat and saturated
fats with colon cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer
and the skin cancer melanoma, as well as heart disease.
"Fat influences the immune system and this is a cancer
of the immune system," said Dr. James Cerhan, the lead
investigator. He said an excess of protein also might
play a role in stimulating the cancer. "In the U.S. diet
they go together; we can't tease them apart." While
Cerhan was cautious about saying this one study "proves
red meat causes cancer," he and others said it supports
previous findings.
"This is not a new concept: Too much fat and too
little fruits and vegetables increase the risk of
cancer," said Dr. Moshe Shike, director of clinical
nutrition at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in
New York City. Following government guidelines on eating
a low-fat diet that is high in fruits, vegetables and
fiber is the best advice, he said.
About 52,700 Americans will get non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
this year, about half of whom will die from it,
according to the American Cancer Society's latest
figures. Slightly more men than women will get the
disease. Non-Hodgkins lymphoma is a catch-all term for
about 15 malignancies of the lymphatic system, which
plays a major role in the immune system.
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