Cake Munching Raises Women’s Cancer Risk

Snacking has always been linked to expanding waistlines, but now it is associated with something far more lethal –Cancer!! Cakes, scones   and biscuits have always tickled //our taste buds and have got us to crave for more, but a recent study has given women with asweet  tooth plenty of reasons to worry.

The study has discovered that women who snacked on sugary items several times a week had 33% greater chance of getting endometrial cancer (also known as uterine or womb cancer). The chances jumped to 42% if they indulged more than three times a week.

Endometrial cancer is cancer that affects the endometrium i.e. the inner lining of the uterus. It is a common gynecologic cancer  and is often diagnosed in women over the age of  55. Risk factors include old age, obesity, multiple sex factors, estrogen treatment and late menopause.

Study

The findings are based on a 10-year study by a team at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute which examined the link between sugary diets and the onset of womb cancer. The subjects included more than 60,000 women.

In the year 1987, the female subjects filled -in questionnaires on their lifestyle, diet, weight and general health. Ten years later, those women who were still alive were given the same questionnaire. Basically they were quizzed about their diet- the quantity of sugar they consumed and about the different types of sugary food items that they ate.

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The researchers observed that there was no increased risk from consuming soft drinks, jam or marmalade.  However, a daily intake of more than 35gm sugar – about seven teaspoons – could increase a person’s risk of getting a tumor by 36%.

There are explanations! Sugary overload through a sugary diet makes the body release more insulin which stimulates excessive growth of cells lining the uterus. It also boosts estrogen levels which triggers uncontrolled growth of cells.

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Reporting on their study in   ‘Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention’, the researchers observed, “These data may prove to be of major public health significance if confirmed by other studies in other populations.”

Obesity was always associated with cancer. The study placed special emphasis on the frequency of eating such food as opposed to the amount consumed. This study perhaps gives us a better insight into what we already know though some scientists still feel the need for larger studies before we can draw any firm conclusion.

Source-Medindia