Just about everybody knows that the more cholesterol you have in your blood, the more likely you are to die from a heart attack. This association, confirmed over and over again in many parts of the world, is why most physicians now advise people to avoid foods rich in cholesterol and, if necessary, to take medicine to lower the blood cholesterol. But is there also a link between cholesterol levels and cancer?
One surprising opinion was recently reported in the Lancet (2:603) by a University of Minnesota researcher. He said that, after studying the medical histories of 284 professional men in Minneapolis and St. Paul, he had found more deaths from cancer than expected among men who had reduced their blood cholesterol levels by dieting, etc. He even went so far as to suggest that high blood cholesterol levels may help to protect the body against cancer. It must also be stated, though, that not everyone who analyzed the Minneapolis-St. Paul data agreed with him about this.
So important is this issue that the government recently appointed a team of experts from the National Heart Institute and the National Cancer Institute to examine it from every angle. According to the Wall Street Journal, the experts concluded, “…the two institutes agree that the risk of heart disease from high cholesterol levels seems to exceed the small and uncertain risk of cancer from low cholesterol levels. Therefore, it is still prudent for anyone with high cholesterol levels to attempt to lower them.”
Researchers at Chicago’s Northwestern Medical School go much farther. They suspect that it is the excess cholesterol in the American diet that accounts for our high incidence of colon carcinoma. They reached this conclusion after studying the colon cancer death rates of different countries in relation to their diets.
Finland is an exception to the rule that high fat intake is linked with high death rates from heart attack and carcinoma of the colon. The Finnish diet, which provides the world’s highest fat intake, is associated with the world’s highest heart attack rate. Surprisingly, however, Finland has one of the world’s lowest colon cancer death rates.
Looking into this more closely, Northwestern researchers found that the Finnish diet is an unusual one. Finns eat excessive amount of butter and cream but very little fat from meat or eggs. Thus, their high fat intake consists mostly of triglycerides but contains relatively little cholesterol. The Northwestern study therefore suggests that cholesterol plays a far more important role in colon cancer than do any other types of fat.
Although probably not a carcinogen (a cause of cancer), they think cholesterol is a “promoter” (a substance which multiplies the effect of carcinogens). Diets rich in cholesterol would thus enhance the probability of colon cancer, especially in families that are naturally more than usually prone to develop that type of tumor.
So, if you wish to minimize your chances of getting cancer of the colon, use eggs sparingly, trim the fat off your meat, and take enough bran every day (most people need two to three heaped tablespoonfuls) to make your bowels move easily.
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Tags: General health