<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> The featured story in current health news has been about the link between a high-carb diet and breast cancer. Recently I posted on the List the recent study "Malignancy and mortality in people with coeliac disease: population based cohort study" which found that breast cancer risk was significantly lower in celiacs on a GF-diet. Off-hand, I would say there is a very high probability of a connection between these two results. A GF-diet is likely to include less refined carbohydrates in addition to the elimination of gluten. ---------- Study: Shunning carbs may cut breast-cancer risk http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/health/33088.php CBS News story with video (Paste address together) http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/08/06/earlyshow/contributors/emilysenay/ main634382.shtml ---------- Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention Vol. 13, 1283-1289, August 2004 Carbohydrates and the Risk of Breast Cancer among Mexican Women Isabelle Romieu, Eduardo Lazcano-Ponce, Luisa Maria Sanchez-Zamorano, Walter Willett and Mauricio Hernandez-Avila Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico and Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health and Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts Full-text HTML (free): http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/full/13/8/1283 Full-text PDF (free): http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/cgi/reprint/13/8/1283 Abstract Objective: High carbohydrate intake has been hypothesized to be a risk factor for breast cancer, possibly mediated by elevated levels of free insulin, estrogens, and insulin-like growth factor-1. Therefore, we conducted a population-based case-control study among a Mexican population characterized by relatively low fat and high carbohydrate intakes. Methods: Women ages 20 to 75 years, identified through six hospitals in Mexico City (n = 475), were interviewed to obtain data relating to diet (using a food frequency questionnaire) and breast cancer risk factors. Controls (n = 1,391) were selected from the Mexico City population using a national sampling frame. Results: Carbohydrate intake was positively associated with breast cancer risk. Compared with women in the lowest quartile of total carbohydrate intake, the relative risk of breast cancer for women in the highest quartile was 2.22 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.63-3.04], adjusting for total energy and potential confounding variables (P for trend < 0.0001). This association was present in premenopausal and postmenopausal women (for highest versus lowest quartile, odds ratio 2.31, 95% CI 1.36- 3.91 in premenopausal women and odds ratio 2.22, 95% CI 1.49-3.30 in postmenopausal women). Among carbohydrate components, the strongest associations were observed for sucrose and fructose. No association was observed with total fat intake. Discussion: In this population, a high percentage of calories from carbohydrate, but not from fat, was associated with increased breast cancer risk. This relation deserves to be investigated further, particularly in populations highly susceptible to insulin resistance. ---------- BMJ. 2004 Jul 21 [Epub ahead of print] Full-text PDF (free): http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/reprint/bmj.38169.486701.7Cv1 Malignancy and mortality in people with coeliac disease: population based cohort study. West J, Logan RF, Smith CJ, Hubbard RB, Card TR. Division of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Nottingham, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH. OBJECTIVE: To quantify the risks of malignancy and mortality in people with coeliac disease compared with the general population. DESIGN: Population based cohort study. SETTING: General practice research database. PARTICIPANTS: 4732 people with coeliac disease and 23 620 matched controls. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Hazard ratios for malignancy and mortality. RESULTS: Of the 4732 people with coeliac disease, 134 (2.8%) had at least one malignancy and 237 (5.0%) died. The overall hazard ratios were: for any malignancy 1.29 (95% confidence interval 1.06 to 1.55), for mortality 1.31 (1.13 to 1.51), for gastrointestinal cancer 1.85 (1.22 to 2.81), for breast cancer 0.35 (0.17 to 0.72), for lung cancer 0.34 (0.13 to 0.95), and for lymphoproliferative disease 4.80 (2.71 to 8.50). The increased risk was primarily in the first year after diagnosis, with the risk for only lymphoproliferative disease remaining significantly raised thereafter. After excluding events in the year after diagnosis, the hazard ratio for malignancy was 1.10 (0.87 to 1.39) and for mortality was 1.17 (0.98 to 1.38), giving absolute excess rates of 6 and 17 per 10 000 person years, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: People with coeliac disease have modest increases in overall risks of malignancy and mortality. Most of this excess risk occurs in the year of follow up after diagnosis. People with coeliac disease also have a noticeably reduced risk of breast cancer. The mechanism of this merits further attention as it may provide insights into the cause of this common malignancy. PMID: 15269095 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] * * * * Send administrative questions to [log in to unmask] *