Keeping
a healthy lifestyle — by refraining from smoking, limiting alcohol
intake, eating healthily, working out and maintaining a small waistline —
can go a long way in preventing colorectal cancer, according to a new
study.
Nearly a quarter of colorectal cancer cases could be prevented by adhering to these five lifestyle
recommendations,
said study researcher Dr. Anne Tjonneland, of the Institute of Cancer
Epidemiology at the Danish Cancer Society in Copenhagen.
"Bowel cancer is probably one of the cancers where lifestyle habits have the highest impact on risk," Tjonneland told MyHealthNewsDaily.
In
the United States, the National Cancer Institute anticipates 51,370
deaths from colon and rectal cancers in 2010. Together, these cancers
were second only to lung and bronchial cancer in the number of U.S.
deaths from 2003 through 2007.
According to the Danish study, the risk of colorectal cancer can be lowered by being physically active
for more than 30 minutes every day, having no more than seven drinks
for a woman or 14 drinks for a man every week, not smoking, having a
waistline smaller than 35 inches (88 centimeters) for women and 40
inches (102 cm) for men, and maintaining a healthy diet.
Even modest differences in lifestyle habits can have a substantial impact on colorectal cancer risk, Tjonneland said.
The study was published online today (Oct. 26) in the British Medical Journal.
Following the rules
The
researchers surveyed 55,489 men and women between the ages of 50 and 64
over the course of nearly 10 years to learn about their lifestyle
habits. By 2006, at the end of the 10-year period, 678 people had been
diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
Researchers
then compared how closely those with colorectal cancer and those
without had adhered to the five lifestyle recommendations.
They
found that if participants had adhered to all five lifestyle
recommendations, 23 percent of the colorectal cancer cases could have
been avoided. If all participants had followed just one of the
recommendations, 13 percent of the colorectal cancer cases could have
been avoided, the study said.
"What
should be done as a next step would be to actually make people change
their habits in an intervention study," Tjonneland told
MyHealthNewsDaily.
The
message isn't necessarily new, but the study itself is important
because it looked at how lifestyle factors can act together to affect
colorectal cancer risk, instead of looking at each factor on its own,
said Dr. Jeffrey Meyerhardt, a colorectal cancer specialist at
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
"It's
been well-known that avoidance of obesity, increasing physical
activity, certain dietary things, lack of smoking, reduction of alcohol
are all things that can relatively reduce one's risk of developing
cancer, but most papers individually look at each of these things," said
Meyerhardt, who was not involved with the study.
Research
published in 2000 in the journal Cancer Causes & Control found
similar results. Harvard School of Public Health researchers found, in a
study of 47,927 men ages 40 to 75, that those who adhered to a similar
set of lifestyle recommendations had a lower colon cancer risk than
those who didn't. And a 2009 study published in the journal Colorectal
Disease found a correlation between body mass index and colorectal
cancer risk.
Explaining the events
The
reasons why following the recommendations can help prevent colorectal
cancer are not certain, but it is known that high insulin and diabetes
are risk factors for the disease, Meyerhardt said.
"Obesity and lack of activity leads to high insulin states, which can lead to growth of cancer cells," Meyerhardt said.
An
American Cancer Society official noted, however, that the new study
doesn't address whether lifestyle changes have more or less of an impact
on people with a higher risk of developing colorectal cancer than on
the average person.
The
biggest risk factor for colorectal cancer is a family history of the
disease, or a family or personal history of colon polyps, which are
small clumps of cells that can turn cancerous, said , said Dr. Durado
Brooks, director of Prostate and Colorectal Cancers at the society, who
was not associated with the study.
"Regardless
of lifestyle — you can do everything right — and you can still have
significant chance" of developing colorectal cancer, Brooks said. "Getting screened
for all adults starting at age 50, or earlier if they have risk
factors, is the single most important thing that people can do."
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