Dodgy lifestyle concerns
October 12, 2010
A FIVE year study undertaken by
researchers at Aberdeen University
has found a link between the
increasing rates of young people
being diagnosed with mouth, throat
and “food pipe” cancer and the rise
in unhealthy lifestyle choices.
Researchers looked at 350
patients under 50 years old suffering
Upper aero-digestive tract cancers
and 400 people who did not and
found that nine out of 10 of the
cancers in the former group were
caused by drinking and a lack of
fruit and vegetables in the diet.
“Our study aimed to determine
whether smoking, alcohol
consumption and low fruit and
vegetable intake remained the most
significant risk factors for UADT
cancers in this age group, or whether
other “novel” factors including
genetics and infection could be
relatively more important,” said
study leader, Professor Macfarlane.
“The results of our study further
emphasise that the message we
need to be communicating to the
public remains the same – that
smoking, drinking and diet are the
major triggers of these diseases at
all ages,” Macfarlane added.
According to the study, tobacco is
considered the biggest mouth
cancer risk factor, with those that
both smoke and drink more than
30x more likely to develop the
condition than those that did neither.
One third of cases were also
linked to an unhealthy diet, with
researchers suggesting upping the
intake of Omega 3, nuts, seeds,
whole wheat and brown rice as a
way to cut the risk.
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