The very same chemicals that make processed meats like cold cuts appealingly pink and flavorful, while keeping botulism at bay may also raise your risk of cancer of the bladder according to a new report. This year just over 70,000 Americans will be diagnosed with this disease, and more than 2% of the population will develop it over their lifetime.
Pointing a tentative finger at nitrites and nitrates, used as preservatives and to add color and flavor to red meat cold cuts, the researchers agree that more work needs to be done to confirm their findings.
In general, work linking meat and bladder cancer has offered inconsistent results, these latest findings bring modest support for the idea of an increased risk of bladder cancer based on dietary nitrite and nitrate intake.
When it comes to bladder cancer, risk factors that are known to be trouble include smoking and exposure to arsenic.
Still there are other likely exposures, and that's why the team investigated whether compounds found in meat that form during cooking - heterocyclic amines (HCAs) or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) - or during the preservation of some types of meats - nitrates and nitrites - were linked to cancer of the bladder. Nitrate and nitrite are precursors to N-nitroso compounds (NOCs) thought to induce tumors in organs.
It's important to understand that the red meat that's not in the form of a cold cut, things like beef, bacon, hamburger, sausage and steak... were not connected to bladder cancer. Instead it was red meat cold cuts that brought the increased risk.
To complete the work data was used from a study that started in 1995. The research followed 300,933 older men and women (age 50-71) in eight U.S. states; with participants filling out questionnaires on the meat they ate as well as how it was cooked. The researchers matched this data to lab measured meat components and the total dietary nitrate and nitrite intake were calculated based on the values given.
During the eight-year study 854 (less than 0.3%) were diagnosed with bladder cancer. The team saw that the top fifth of participants whose diets were high in nitrites from all sources (not just meat) and those who got a lot of nitrites in their diet from processed meats had about a 30% greater risk of being diagnosed with bladder cancer than those whose consumption of these foods was ranked lowest.
People who ate the most red meat were younger, less educated, less physically active and ate fewer fruits, veggies and vitamins C and E than those who ate the least red meat. The biggest meat eaters among us, according to Cross, are more likely to be non-Hispanic, white, a smoker with a higher BMI.
If you're worried about your risk of bladder cancer, there are things to think about...
- Stop smoking - smoking increases your risk of bladder cancer five-fold.
- Eat a healthy diet, low in fried meats and fat.
- Understand the risks and avoid being exposed to substances at work - dye workers, rubber workers, aluminum workers, leather workers, truck drivers and pesticide applicators are especially at risk.
- Lingering bladder infection, one that's chronic, can lead to the development of squamous cell bladder cancers only.
- Parasite infections in third world nations of the organism schistosomiasis have been linked to the development of this type of cancer.
- If you have any symptoms, don't wait, talk with your doctor right away. You may have an abdominal CT scan, biopsy or some other test to see where you stand and get treatment underway.
The good news when it comes to cancer of the bladder is that most cases today are caught early, when treatment is most effective. How well you do depends on the stage of the cancer and how you respond to therapy, but often the outlook is good, and getting better all the time. Follow up and screening to be sure you stay cancer free are also important.
FREE Bonus Secret Health Reports - For a limited time you can grab 5 FREE essential health reports from Daily Health Bulletin and click the link now to discover more about preventing cancer of the bladder and the causes and treatments of other cancers.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kirsten_Whittaker
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