Diabetics at Risk for Colorectal Cancer

As if they didn’t have enough problems, a new, big study shows that diabetic patients have a significantly higher risk of developing cancer of the colon or rectum. Almost a quarter of a million people participated in the US National Health Interview Survey between 1997 and 2003. Over 13,000 of them had diabetes, and 1.39% of these developed colorectal cancer. Out of the rest of the participants – those without diabetes – only 0.47% developed colorectal cancer.

Apparently there’s a mechanism as to how this difference is likely to happen; high blood insulin levels and an insulin-promoting protein (insulin-like growth factor, or IGF-1) have been linked to colon polyps and cancer.

There were other interesting findings in this survey. People over 50 were about 14 times more likely to get colorectal cancer. White persons were 40% more likely to get it than black persons, while obese people were 20% less likely. Smoking and alcohol were linked to a slightly greater likelihood of getting colorectal cancer.

These results mean that people at an increased risk should make absolutely sure to have their regular check-ups after age 50:

Fecal Occult Blood Test or Stool Test – every year

Flexible Sigmoidoscopy - every 5 years

Colonoscopy - every 10 years ( Colonoscopy may also be used as a follow-up test if anything unusual is found during one of the other screening tests.)

Most insurance plans and Medicare help pay for these screening tests.

Comments

[Michael Roberts]

Taking asprin regularly may make you up to 50 per cent less likely to
develop colon or rectal cancer.
A massive study of 6,217 people conducted at four major medical
institutions in the United States revealed that people who took asprin
at least four times a week had half the risk of developing colorectal
cancer when compared with others who never took asprin, or those who
only used it occasionally.

Explaining the findings, Dr Paul Stolley, professor of medicine at the
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, said: "It seems that
asprin may inhibit the formation of substances in the body called
prostaglandins which are known to play a role in the growth of
tumours".


Added Dr William Castell,an expert in preventive medicine at Harvard
Medical School and director of the famed Framingham Heart Study: "
Taking asprin four times a week would not only help reduce the risk of
large bowel caner, but also reduce the risk of heart attacks and heart
diseases."
A word of caution, however, before you rush off to buy asprin, check
with your gp, it can cause stomach bleeding if you are prone to
ulcers.
Aspin tablets are usually 300mg per tablet, and many experts regard
75mg enough to reduce the risk of the above diseases, so by breaking
one tablet into four and taking 75mg four times per week would be a
good idea, provided you have no history of stomach problems.

[Robert Griffith]

Thanks, Michael:
And, if you live in the USA, you can buy 'baby aspirin' - that's 81 mg, which is (at least in some stores) enteric-coated and called adult low-dose aspirin. It saves you the trouble of quartering tablets.
Bob G.