Diabetes increases cancer mortality risk
December 16th, 2008
cnn.com reports:
Two of the most common diseases in the United States — cancer and diabetes — are not often linked together in the public mind. But they may have a stronger link than most people think. Cancer patients who already have diabetes have a greater chance of dying of the disease than cancer patients who do not have the blood-sugar disorder, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.If researchers can tease out the reason why, they might have an opportunity to reduce cancer deaths by focusing on diabetes-related health problems, says lead author Frederick Brancati, M.D., a professor of medicine and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in Baltimore, Maryland.
About 24 million people in the United States have diabetes, and about eight to 18 percent of newly diagnosed cancer patients also have the disease.
December 17th, 2008 at 12:29 am
Without the benefit of a medical education, I can’t imagine NOT seeing a link there. The toll of diabetes on the immunes system has been identified and widely documented for years — as it relates to many ailments. Forgive the cynicism, but I live under the assumption we’ll all be cancer patients some day — even for those who strive to take great care of health and fitness; unseen external substances and all. With that in mind, with any impending disease in mind, we should all strive to prevent the onset of diabetes. More so, and often the hard part, is that we should strive to help our loved ones avoid diabetes as well. Good stuff Sal!
December 22nd, 2008 at 1:12 am
Also without the benefit of a medical education, I’m not surprised, either, given that cancer cells feed on glucose. It would be interesting to see what effect, if any, tight control has on the link between diabetes and cancer deaths.