Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men; one borne out in statistics Every year, more than 47,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, the equivalent of 129 men every day. Meanwhile, 11,500 men a year will lose their lives to prostate cancer; one every 45 minutes or one football half without extra time. Since prostate cancer is symptomless in its early stages, there is a lot of focus on helping men to reduce their chances of the disease.
One way to do so may be to cut out dairy products.
A new study conducted by Loma Linda University (LLU) has found men who consume higher intakes of dairy products such as milk have an increased risk of prostate cancer.
The study found no link between prostate cancer and intake of non-dairy calcium.
Gary Fraser of LLU said: “Our findings add important weight to other evidence associating dairy products, rather than non-dairy calcium, as a modifiable risk factor for prostate cancer.”
READ MORE: Hair loss: ‘Hair-care’ habits ‘responsible’ for permanent hair loss
With regard to what intake is required to increase risk, the study said men who consumed the equivalent of one three quarter cups of milk per day had a 25 percent increased risk of prostate cancer compared to men who only drank half a cup of milk a week.
Furthermore, men who consumed 430 grams of dairy products also faced a greater risk of prostate cancer.
Fraser and his co-researcher’s findings are published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The study highlights the potential impact of an individual’s diet on their cancer risk.
READ RELATED: People care more about POT HOLES than heart failure – despite disease killing as many as dementia
DON’T MISS
In a statement Fraser said of the results: “Most of the continuing increase in risk is done with by the time you get to 150 grams, about two-thirds of a cup of milk per day.
“It’s almost as if some biological or biochemical pathway is saturated at about two-thirds of a cup of milk per day.”
Fraser added one potential reason for dairy increasing the risk of prostate cancer is to do with the sex hormone present in dairy milk as 75 percent of lactating cows or pregnant.
Prostate cancer is known to be a hormone-responsive cancer so this is one potential avenue of investigation.
Meanwhile, this isn’t the first-time cancer has been linked to dairy products.
Another study published last year investigating a link between breast cancer and dairy consumption found a similar correlation; women who consumed higher levels of dairy products were at greater risk of cancer.
Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer in the UK, accounting for over 15 percent of new cancer cases.
As part of the government’s decade long war on cancer, new treatments will be trialled as part of a bid to rid the UK of cancer.
Source: Daily Express
