Welcome to Weekly Health Update

“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers”

SATURATED FAT, TRANS-FATS, AND

PREMATURE DEATH IN BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS

As I discuss in detail in my new book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” obesity and increased dietary fat intake have both been linked to an increased risk of developing breast cancer and other types of cancer.  Moreover, obesity and lack of exercise have also been clearly associated with an increased risk of recurrent breast cancer, and death due to breast cancer, among women who have previously been diagnosed with this common form of cancer.  However, the impact of diet, alone, on the risk of premature death among women previously diagnosed with breast cancer, has not been well studied.

However, a newly published clinical research study, which appears in the current issue of the journal Breast Cancer Research & Treatment, strongly suggests that unhealthy dietary habits may significantly increase the risk of death in women who have previously been diagnosed with breast cancer.

In this prospectively conducted study, 4,441 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 1987 and 1999 were followed for an average of 7 years, and were evaluated using a previously validated 126-item food frequency questionnaire that was administered immediately following the diagnosis of breast cancer.  The clinical outcomes of these 4,441 women were then adjusted for other known risk factors for breast cancer recurrence, including age at breast cancer diagnosis, menopausal status, smoking history, stage of breast cancer at diagnosis, alcohol intake history, prior use of hormone replacement therapy, obesity, and exercise history.  After these other known breast cancer recurrence factors were adjusted for, the impact of diet on death due to breast cancer recurrence, as well as death due to any cause, was then calculated.

When compared to women with the lowest average dietary intake of saturated fat, breast cancer survivors with the highest levels of intake of these unhealthy fats were 41 percent more likely to die from any cause during the course of this study.  Similarly, a high level of trans-fat intake was associated with a whopping 78 percent increase in the risk of death from any cause.  (While it failed to reach statistical significance in this relatively small prospective clinical study, an increased risk of death due to breast cancer recurrence was also associated with increasing levels of saturated fat and trans-fat intake, as well.)

In summary, this study of more than 4,000 breast cancer survivors revealed a striking increase in the risk of premature death among women who consumed large amounts of saturated fat and trans-fats in their diet.  Importantly, this increased risk of premature death was not limited to death caused by breast cancer recurrence, alone, but from multiple different causes of death.  Regarding the link between the intake of unhealthy fats and death due specifically to breast cancer recurrence, the same disturbing trend was observed, although this particular association did not quite reach accepted standards of statistical significance.  (A larger version of this study will, therefore, be necessary to tease out the relationship between unhealthy dietary fats and death due to breast cancer recurrence, specifically; although the findings of this relatively small prospective clinical study are suggestive that such a link likely exists.)

For a complete discussion of the impact of diet, including dietary fats, on cancer risk, and the role of diet and healthy fats in cancer prevention, as well as other important evidence-based approaches to cancer prevention, order your copy of my new book, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race.  For the price of a cheeseburger, fries, and a shake, you can purchase this landmark new book, in both paperback and e-book formats, and begin living an evidence-based cancer prevention lifestyle today!

For a groundbreaking overview of cancer risks, and evidence-based strategies to reduce your risk of developing cancer, order your copy of my new book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Vroman’s Bookstore, and other fine bookstores!

On Thanksgiving Day, 2010, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was ranked #6 among all cancer-related books on the Amazon.com “Top 100 Bestseller’s List” for Kindle e-books!  On Christmas Day, 2010, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was the #1 book on the Amazon.com “Top 100 New Book Releases in Cancer” list! 

Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Welcome to Weekly Health Update

“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers”

ALPHA-LIPOIC ACID, OBESITY AND WEIGHT LOSS

Alpha-lipoic acid plays a very important role in the energy production centers of our cells (mitochondria).  In recent years, clinical research has suggested that alpha-lipoic acid supplements may have a variety of potential health benefits, including a possible reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease.  Recent laboratory research has also shown that alpha-lipoic acid supplements markedly reduce the incidence of obesity in obesity-prone rats.  However, it has not been clear whether or not alpha-lipoic acid has any clinically significant anti-obesity effects in humans.  Now, a newly published prospective, randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled clinical research study suggests that alpha-lipoic acid supplementation may indeed improve weight loss in obese humans.

In this study, which appears in the current issue of The American Journal of Medicine, 360 obese patient volunteers were randomized to receive either alpha-lipoic acid supplements or identical-appearing placebo pills.  Patients who were assigned to receive alpha-lipoic acid supplements received either 1,200 milligrams of alpha-lipoic acid per day or 1,800 milligrams per day.  After 20 weeks, all patient volunteers were weighed once again.

After 20 weeks, the group of patients that had received 1,800 milligrams of alpha-lipoic acid per day experienced a modest but significant reduction in weight (2.1 percent of body weight) when compared the patient volunteers who had received the placebo pills.

While a 2 percent weight loss may sound trivial, it must be emphasized that obesity is an illness that has been shown to be refractory to almost every medical treatment (other than surgery), including the handful of very expensive prescription medications that have been approved by the FDA to treat obesity.  Certainly, alpha-lipoic acid, by itself, is not likely to reverse the epidemic of obesity that has spread throughout the world.  However, if the findings of this small prospective, randomized, controlled clinical study can be confirmed by larger studies, then alpha-lipoic acid may find use as an adjunct to other weight-loss strategies (including, of course, dieting and exercise).

Finally, as always, I remind readers not to begin new diets, exercise programs, or nutritional supplements (including alpha-lipoic acid) without first discussing such lifestyle changes with their doctors.

For a complete discussion of the impact of obesity on cancer risk, and the role of diet and nutritional supplements in cancer prevention, as well as other important evidence-based approaches to cancer prevention, order your copy of my new book, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race.  For the price of a cheeseburger, fries, and a shake, you can purchase this landmark new book, in both paperback and e-book formats, and begin living an evidence-based cancer prevention lifestyle today!

For a groundbreaking overview of cancer risks, and evidence-based strategies to reduce your risk of developing cancer, order your copy of my new book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Vroman’s Bookstore, and other fine bookstores!

On Thanksgiving Day, 2010, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was ranked #6 among all cancer-related books on the Amazon.com “Top 100 Bestseller’s List” for Kindle e-books!  On Christmas Day, 2010, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was the #1 book on the Amazon.com “Top 100 New Book Releases in Cancer” list! 

Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Welcome to Weekly Health Update

“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers”

JOB AND WORKPLACE STRESS

The global economy remains in the doldrums, unemployment remains at historically high levels around much of the world, and many people are feeling stressed in both their professional and personal lives.  In today’s highly competitive job market, many employees are feeling increasingly vulnerable.  There is also the perception among many workers that the poor job market has given employers the upper hand when it comes to the workplace environment.  Employees are working longer hours (and often without traditional overtime pay, and the other economic incentives of the pre-recession era), taking more work home with them, and in general, are feeling a great deal more stress and insecurity than they experienced before the economy took a nose-dive in 2008.

Increased levels of chronic stress have been linked to a variety of health problems, including cardiovascular disease, depression, obesity, increased drug use (including tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs), domestic abuse, interpersonal conflicts (at home and at work), and some cancers.  With no end in sight to this second-worst economic downturn in modern history, the odds remain relatively high that many employees will continue to face increased demands in the workplace, increased difficulty in finding a reasonable work-home life balance, and will continue to feel vulnerable and anxious about the stability of their jobs.  Many employers recognize that treating their employees fairly, and helping them to feel secure and appreciated in their jobs, is a “win-win” for everyone.  Employees who are treated fairly, and who come to work each day knowing that their workplace environment is both supportive and free of unnecessary strife, are more efficient and more productive, and tend to take fewer days of sick leave.  On the other hand, employees who feel that they are not being treated fairly, or that they are being taken advantage of, or that their jobs are at risk for reasons other than their performance, are less productive, more prone to interpersonal conflicts, and take more days of sick leave than employees who enjoy a healthy workplace climate.  While some employers may see the current economic downturn as an opportunity to take advantage of their employees, and to exploit and mistreat their employees at a time when many workers already feel insecure and vulnerable, most employers understand that when their employees look forward to coming to work in a healthy, supportive, and fair workplace climate, both employer and employees are more likely to thrive.

Two newly published public health studies, which appear in the current issue of the Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, offer both employees and employers important insights into creating a healthier, more productive, and more collegial work environment. 

The first study was a long-term longitudinal, prospective occupational health study of 326 men and 338 women who originally enrolled in this research study in 1980 (while between the ages of 9 and 18 years).  These children and adolescents were then followed for an impressive 27 years, until 2007.  This study found that the now adult workers who had engaged in frequent leisure-time exercise, and effort-intensive sports, during childhood and adolescence were significantly less likely to complain of chronic workplace stress after they reached adulthood (i.e., when compared to employees who had rarely engaged in exercise or sports during their youth).  Interestingly, after being tested for cardiovascular fitness during adulthood, this study found that a high level of physical fitness in adulthood only partially explained the apparent benefit of increased physical activity during late childhood and adolescence on perceived workplace stress.   In addition to engaging in regular exercise and sports, having a “Type A” personality also appeared to be predictive of less workplace-associated stress.  (People with “Type A” personality traits are highly goal-oriented, performance-oriented, “take charge” people, as opposed to people with so-called “Type B” traits.  “Type B” people tend to feel more comfortable in delegating tasks, are less confrontational than Type A” folks, and also do not feel the sense of task-oriented urgency that their “Type A” peers constantly experience.)

While we probably cannot change our basic personality type, we can all increase our levels of physical activity, starting in childhood and continuing through adulthood, as a means of coping with the increased levels of chronic stress that many of us are feeling these days.  (Importantly, there are many clinical research studies that have demonstrated a strong correlation between regular exercise and a decrease in the incidence of stress-related physical and mental illnesses.)

The findings of the second occupational health study should serve as a wake-up call to those employers that take advantage of hard economic times to exploit their workers, as well as those employers that permit an unhealthy or unfair work environment to persist.  In this study, 2,763 randomly selected employees from the general population were interviewed and evaluated with respect to their workplace environment and their satisfaction with their jobs.  A second group of 3,044 employees who appeared on their companies’ sick lists for more than 14 days, over a 2 month period, were similarly evaluated.

Among the women employees, a perceived unhealthy or unfair workplace environment was associated with an 80 percent increase in the likelihood that these female employees would end up on chronic sick lists.  The impact of a toxic workplace environment on the male employees was even more profound, as men who complained of an unhealthy or unfair workplace climate were 174 percent more likely to chronically call in sick when compared to the men who were generally satisfied with their workplace environment and their jobs.  (Interestingly, increased workload alone, in the absence of an unhealthy workplace environment, increased the risk of absenteeism among women, but not among men.)

In summary, these are tough times for many, many people.  Most employers treat their employees in a fair and ethical manner, knowing that happy and secure employees are more efficient, more productive, more reliable, easier to get along with, and less likely to take excessive sick leave.  Unfortunately, there are also employers who, sensing the insecurity of their employees during difficult economic times, exploit their employees through excessive and unfair workloads, and through their permissiveness in allowing unhealthy or unfair workplace environments to persist.  For employees who must navigate these uncertain times, regular and frequent exercise can be a very important coping mechanism, and can pay important dividends in both one’s personal and professional lives (including a reduction in the risk of stress-related physical and mental ailments).  For the minority of employers who take advantage of their anxious employees, or who turn a blind eye towards unhealthy or unfair workplace environments, such employers not only betray their responsibilities to their employees (and their responsibilities to society, in general), but their unethical treatment of their employees may also be detrimental to the overall success of these organizations, as disaffected employees often respond to such treatment with passive-aggressive work-avoidance behaviors, increased absenteeism, and in some cases, with litigation. 

In time, we will emerge from this terrible global recession.  When that happens, companies that have treated their employees fairly, and according to high ethical standards, during the worst of times will have an inherent advantage over those companies that took the low road.  High levels of productivity, excellent employee morale and loyalty, and low levels of absenteeism and workforce turnover, will improve the competitiveness, stability, and productivity of the companies that treated their employees well during tough economic times (while the companies that did not treat their employees well are more likely to face increased employee turnover as the economy improves, as their disenfranchised employees seek better opportunities within an improving employment marketplace). 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO OUR MANY HEALTH-CONSCIOUS

“WEEKLY HEALTH UPDATE” READERS AROUND THE WORLD!

PEACE, LOVE, AND GOOD HEALTH TO ALL OF YOU!

For a complete discussion of the role of stress on cancer risk, and important evidence-based approaches to cancer prevention (including exercise), order your copy of my new book, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race, now!  For the price of a cheeseburger, fries, and a shake, you can purchase this landmark new book, in both paperback and e-book formats, and begin living an evidence-based cancer prevention lifestyle today!

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Welcome to Weekly Health Update

“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers”

DIET AND LIFESTYLE HABITS THAT

DECREASE COLORECTAL CANCER RISK

In the United States, approximately 106,000 people will be newly diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2010, and nearly 50,000 people will die of this disease.  Colorectal cancer remains the third most common cancer (excluding skin cancer) in both men and women, and the third most common cause of cancer death in men and women.  Unlike many other types of cancer, an effective method of screening for colorectal cancer is available, in the form of colonoscopy.  Fortunately, the incidence of this cancer has been gradually declining over the past 20 years, due in great part to the early detection, and removal, of precancerous polyps from the colon and rectum at the time of colonoscopy.

The links between specific lifestyle choices and the risk of developing certain types of cancer forms much of the basis of my new book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race.”  The risk of developing colorectal cancer, in particular, has been strongly linked to multiple dietary and other lifestyle factors.  Now, a newly published public health research study from Denmark puts a number on the effectiveness of commonly recommended cancer prevention lifestyle strategies in preventing colorectal cancer.

In this study, which appears in the current issue of the British Medical Journal, 55,487 men and women between the ages of 50 and 64 were prospectively followed for an average of 10 years.  Each of these Diet, Cancer and Health Cohort Study volunteers completed validated surveys regarding their social status, health status, reproductive history, and daily lifestyle habits.  They also completed a food frequency questionnaire that included, among its 193 items, foods known to be associated with colorectal cancer risk (including alcohol).  All study participants also underwent physical examinations that included measurements of their height, weight, and waist circumference.  During the course of this large prospective public health study, 678 participants were newly diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

All study volunteers were assessed in terms of 5 modifiable lifestyle and dietary factors that have repeatedly been linked to a reduction in colorectal cancer risk:  Increased levels of regular physical activity, avoidance of obesity, abstention from tobacco use, minimal intake of alcohol, and the observance of healthy diet habits (including increased fiber intake, decreased dietary fat content, decreased red meat and processed meat consumption, and increased fresh fruit and vegetable intake).  Based upon only these 5 simple colorectal cancer risk factors, the adoption of any one of these 5 colorectal cancer prevention factors was associated with a 13 percent decrease in the risk of developing colorectal cancer.  Among participants who generally observed all 5 lifestyle and dietary prevention factors, the risk of developing colorectal cancer was reduced by 23 percent.  (Of note, while this observed reduction in the risk of colorectal cancer was noted for both colon cancer and rectal cancer, this finding was only statistically significant for cancer of the colon, specifically.)

The results of this large prospectively conducted public health study reaffirm the findings of previous studies, in that the risk of colorectal cancer can be significantly reduced by: Engaging in regular moderate exercise, maintaining a healthy body weight, avoiding tobacco use, minimizing alcohol consumption, and by reducing the intake of red meat and processed meats and fat, while simultaneously increasing the consumption of fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, and whole grain foods.  For a more detailed evidence-based guide to colorectal cancer prevention, order or download your copy of “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race” now.  

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For a groundbreaking overview of cancer risks, and evidence-based strategies to reduce your risk of developing colorectal cancer, and other types of cancer, order your copy of my new book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Vroman’s Bookstore, and other fine bookstores!

Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity

Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, a professor of surgery, a cancer researcher, an oncology consultant, and a widely published author

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I and the staff of Weekly Health Update would again like to take this opportunity to thank the more than 100,000 health-conscious people, from around the world, who visit this premier global health information website every month.  (As of 9/16/2010, more than 1,000,000 health-conscious people have logged onto Weekly Health Update so far this year!)  As always, I enjoy receiving your stimulating feedback and questions, and I will continue to try and personally answer as many of your inquiries as I possibly can.