Quote:
Risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma was inversely associated with intakes of dairy products, fish, all vegetables, citrus fruit and juices, and dark bread and was positively associated with gravy intake. Risk of distal stomach adenocarcinoma was positively associated with red meat intake.
Conclusions: Our study suggests that a diet high in fruit and vegetables may decrease the risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma and that a diet high in meats may increase the risk of distal stomach adenocarcinoma.
|
That's quite different from the Reuter's article, which implies that ALL meat is linked to BOTH types of cancers. In fact, in the body of the study itself, the "healty diet" included poultry and fish. The "high-meat" diet included a large intake of processed and cured meats, hotdogs, etc.
I've already posted my research on esophageal cancer just above here. This study did not show a link between high meat consumption and esophageal cancer, only confirmed previous reports that a high-fiber diet with lots of vegetables and fruits is beneficial.
I did a search of adenocarcinoma of the distal stomach (the end that connects to the intestine) in Nebraska. Although the rate for stomach cancer in the US as a whole has been declining for decades, this particular population seems to be at greater risk. There are numerous factors being investigated .. diet is only one. This is a mostly rural, farm-based population ... with increased exposure to pesticides, and high-nitrates in the drinking water (from organic waste and fertilizers) .. which is strongly associated with cancers of the digestive tract. Likely the livestock which are the source of the meat, are also consuming the high-nitrate water.
I found a previous study, also co-authoured by Mary H. Ward (of THIS study) ... from 1996, which suggests a link between charred and well-done meats and pan-drippings (gravy) with increased risk of stomach cancer. You can read it
here. Mary H. Ward is an epidemiologist, who has co-authored many interview-based research projects looking for links between meat consumption and stomach cancer.
Quote:
|
.... interviewers conducted telephone interviews of the cases and controls or their proxies during 1992–1994. Because of the poor prognoses of these cancers, interviews were conducted with the next of kin for 76% of esophageal adenocarcinoma cases, 80% of stomach adenocarcinoma cases, and 61% of controls. For the controls, self-respondents were intentionally oversampled to increase the power of subgroup analyses among self-respondents. < snip > Subjects were asked to recall their frequency of consumption of 54 dietary items before 1985.
|
Hmmm, hope everyone's memory was crystal-clear. The editorial comments on this study can be read
here. Potential errors and inaccuracies are discussed, much better than I could state.
This study lumps fresh meats in with processed meats which are high in salt and nitrates, both of which have been previously linked to cancers of the digestive tract. There was a note made about the "healthy diet" which wasn't really stressed, but I thought interesting.
Quote:
|
The strongest inverse association with a risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma was found for the intake of fish, which was also more commonly consumed by the healthy diet group.
|
I think the results of this study could be useful for those known to be in the high-risk group for stomach cancer, so that they could make preventive dietary changes .. eating more whole vegetables and fruits, more fish, poultry and nuts. Eating more fish, especially fatty fish ... and less salty processed meat with nitrates ... is a good idea for everybody.
But to make a blanket statement implying that eating all meats leads to increased risk of these cancers in all people is inaccurate and misleading.
my 2¢
Doreen