SUGARY SODA IS LINKED TO ENDOMETRIAL CANCER IN POSTMENOPAUSE

 

A new study of sugary drinks, has brought to light a possible connection between the consumption of drinks laden with sugar and endometrial cancer in postmenopausal women. 

The cancer in question, endometrial, is one that is estrogen dependent.  It is also a cancer of the lining of the uterus.  

This type of cancer is somewhat common, with almost 50,000 cases a year, and more than 8,000 deaths annually.  It is a type of cancer usually developed in women who are 55 years or older. 

The new study highlighted a finding of 78% higher risk for endometrial cancer, in women who consumed sugary drinks, and the risk rose up to 78% with the individual consumption. 

It is also important to note that the risk was specifically for the type of endometrial cancer called Estrogen dependent 1, vs Estrogen dependent 2, which did not seem to reflect a similar pattern after consumption of the drinks.  

But the cause-effect parallel had already been observed in medicine, since most of the women who rely on heavily sugared drinks are also often obese or overweight, which in itself is a marker for increased cancer probability. 

And that is because being overweight also influences the levels of estrogen and insulin in the blood, whose disruption is a known factor in the development of endometrial cancer. 

The sugary drinks in the study were categorized in quintiles, from zero consumption to 60.5 per week, of the highest quintile. 

However, switching to diet drinks or drinks with artificial sweeteners has been found to be a negative habit too, since artificial sweeteners seem to interfere or pervert the usual sugar-insulin cycle.  

Three diet components however, were found to decrease the incidence of endometrial cancer:  1 ) avoidance of foods that are cooked at high temperatures such as fried food and burned foods, 2 ) keeping low weight early in childhood, which is when a lot of the insulin metabolic functions are set, and 3 ) coffee, whose moderate consumption in the long term may reduce the risk of cancer. 

Partial Source : MNT/ 11.25.13