People who eat a lot of red meat and processed meats have a higher risk of
several types of cancer, including lung cancer and colorectal cancer, US
researchers say.
The work is the first big study to show a link between meat and lung cancer.
It also shows that people who eat a lot of meat have a higher risk of liver
and esophageal cancer and that men raise their risk of pancreatic cancer by
eating red meat.
"A decrease in the consumption of red and processed meat could reduce the
incidence of cancer at multiple sites," Dr Amanda Cross and colleagues at
the US National Cancer Institute wrote in their report, published in the
Public Library of Science journal PLoS Medicine.
The researchers studied 500,000 people aged 50 to 71 who took part in a diet
and health study done in conjunction with the AARP, formerly the American
Association for Retired Persons.
After eight years, 53,396 cases of cancer were diagnosed.
"Statistically significant elevated risks [ranging from 20 per cent to 60
per cent] were evident for esophageal, colorectal, liver, and lung cancer,
comparing individuals in the highest with those in the lowest quintile of
red meat intake," the researchers wrote.
The people in the top 20 per cent of eating processed meat had a 20 per cent
higher risk of colorectal cancer – mostly rectal cancer – and a 16 per cent
higher risk for lung cancer.
"Furthermore, red meat intake was associated with an elevated risk for
cancers of the esophagus and liver," the researchers wrote.
These differences held even when smoking was accounted for.
"Red meat intake was not associated with gastric or bladder cancer,
leukemia, lymphoma, or melanoma," added the researchers.
Red meat was defined as all types of beef, pork and lamb.
Processed meat included bacon, red meat sausage, poultry sausage, luncheon
meats, cold cuts, ham and most types of hot dogs including turkey dogs.
Meats can cause cancer by several routes, the researchers wrote.
"For example, they are both sources of saturated fat and iron, which have
independently been associated with carcinogenesis," the researchers wrote.
Meat is also a source of several chemicals known to cause DNA mutations,
including N-nitroso compounds (NOCs), heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
Jeanine Genkinger of Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and Anita
Koushik of the University of Montreal in Canada said the findings fitted in
with other research.
"Meat consumption in relation to cancer risk has been reported in over a
hundred epidemiological studies from many countries with diverse diets,"
they wrote in a commentary.
# – Prahladananda Swami – 13/1/08

On 25 December 2007 NPR – National Public Radio reported: New scientific
evidence supports the claim that water flowing in India’s Ganges river —
where millions of people bathe daily — has special self-purifying
properties, which act as a disinfectant that kills bacteria, and prevents
disease. Global Good News service views this news as a sign of rising
positivity in the field of science, documenting the growth of
life-supporting, evolutionary trends.
Millions believe that if you bathe in the water of the Ganges, then you
purify yourself.
In the fourth installment of a six-part series recorded for NPR,
independent film producer Julian Crandall Hollick investigated the claim
that the Ganges had something special in its water, which he called the
‘mysterious X factor’.
The report stated, ‘Hindus have always believed that water from India’s
Ganges River has extraordinary powers. The Indian emperor Akbar called it
the ‘water of immortality’ and always traveled with a supply. The British
East India Co. used only Ganges water on its ships during the three-month
journey back to England, because it stayed ‘sweet and fresh’.’
Hollick found a retired professor of hydrology, DS Bhargava, who has been
investigating water samples from various parts of the river. He says that
the oxygen levels in the Ganges’ are ’25 times higher than any other river
in the world’, which gives it its self-purifying quality.
Hollick also interviewed Jay Ramachandran, a Molecular biologist and
entrepreneur in Bangalore, who explained why the Ganges doesn’t spread
disease among its bathers.
The high amount of oxygen in the water helps assimilate organic materials,
and helpful bacteria destroys harmful bacteria. Large amounts of people
bathing in the river seems to stimulate the helpful bacteria to act upon
the bacteria that is harmful to humans.
The Ganges alone out of all of the world’s rivers is a self-purifying
system. # – Prahladananda Swami – 9/1/08

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7174665.stm
Healthy living ‘can add 14 years’
Flats on an estate
Social class was
Taking exercise, drinking moderately, eating sufficient fruit and vegetables
and not smoking can add as much as 14 years to your life, a study has found.
Research involving 20,000 people over a decade found those who failed on all
criteria were four times more likely to have died than those who succeeded.
The findings held true regardless of how overweight or poor they were.
The Public Library of Science Medicine study suggests many could increase
their lifespan through simple changes.
The research was carried out by the University of Cambridge and the Medical
Research Council in the English county of Norfolk between 1993 and 2006.
Participants were aged between 45 and 79. They were socially mixed although
overwhelmingly white, and as far as they were aware at the time, did not
have cancer or any heart problems.
Taking off the years
A point was awarded for each of the following: not currently smoking,
consuming between one and 14 units of alcohol per week (the equivalent of
between half a glass and seven glasses of wine), eating five servings of
fruit and vegetables each day and not being inactive.
It means a large proportion of the population really could feel health
benefits through moderate changes
Professor Kay-Tee Khaw
University of Cambridge
This last category was defined as either having a sedentary occupation and
taking half an hour of exercise a day, or simply having a non-sedentary job
like a nurse or plumber.
Not only did the team find that those with four points were significantly
less likely to have died over the period than those with none, they also
found that a 60-year-old person with a score of zero had the same risk of
dying as a 74-year-old with the full four points.
"We’ve know that individually, measures such as not smoking and exercising
can have an impact upon longevity, but this is the first time we have looked
at them altogether," said Professor Kay-Tee Khaw, who led the research.
"And we also found that social class and BMI – body mass index – really did
not have a role to play.
"It means a large proportion of the population really could feel health
benefits through moderate changes."
Everyone gains
It was in the reduction of deaths attributed to cardiovascular disease where
the findings were most pronounced, with those scoring zero five times more
likely to succumb than those scoring four.
But there was also a relationship between score and cancer deaths.
While the main analysis excluded people with known disease, the researchers
found that those with serious conditions fared better the higher they scored
than those who scored lower.
Health campaigners welcomed the study.
"This is good news and shows that by living a healthy life, people can
reduce their risk of dying from heart and circulatory disease," said Judy
O’Sullivan of the British Heart Foundation.
"By not smoking, drinking alcohol in moderation, taking regular physical
activity and eating a diet rich in fruit and vegetables, people can improve
their chances of living longer."
A Department of Health spokesperson said: "Everyone has responsibility for
their own health, which was highlighted last year when we kickstarted the
Small Change, Big Difference initiative to show people that there are simple
changes they can make in their lives that will have a direct impact on their
health."
# – Prahladananda Swami – 8/1/08