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FRIDAY, July 20, 2018 (HealthDay News) – A new study suggests that colon cancer patients who regularly drink diet sodas have a much lower risk of returning from the tumor, or dying of cancer.
A study funded by the US National Cancer Institute, researchers tracked the results of more than 1,000 colon cancer patients. The investigators found that those who drank one or more 12 ounce portions of artificial soft drinks a day had a 46 percent lower risk of cancer recurrence or death during the study period than those who did not drink such drinks
. The second badysis revealed that about half of the benefits seemed to be due to switching from regular sodas to diet sodas.
"Artificially sweetened beverages have an ephemeral reputation in the public because of alleged health risks that have never been documented" "Our study clearly shows that they help prevent cancer recurrence and death in patients who have been treated for advanced colon cancer, and this is a major problem, "says Dr. Charles Fuchs, director of the Yale Cancer Center.
But an expert in colon cancer who reviewed the results said that the study is far from conclusive.
"I would not pay much attention to this observational study with many design flaws," said Dr. Elena Ivanina, a gastroenterologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.
Ivanina said that patients with colon cancer – and consumers in general – should also "weigh all the evidence that chronic consumption of artificial sweeteners may increase the risk of obesity and metabolic diseases, which are factors of risk for many types of cancers. "[19659002] The study was published online July 19 in the journal PLoS One .
Dr. Brendan Guercio is hospitalized at the # Brigham and Women Hospital Boston and first author of the new study.He said in the press release that "more and more literature suggests that poor eating habits, such as high consumption of drinks may increase the risk of recurrence of colon cancer and patient mortality. "
For colon cancer patients who have difficulty avoiding sugar-sweetened beverages, choose artificially sweetened options rather than sugary drinks can enable them to avoid these health consequences. "
The study was only interested in badociations and could not prove a move to diet sodas caused improved colon cancer results." Still according to Fuchs, this Finding "matches all we know about the risk of colon cancer in general: factors such as obesity, sedentary lifestyle, diet-related diabetes – all of this leads to an excess of diabetes." energy – We now know that in terms of recurrence and survival of colon cancer, the use of artificially sweetened beverages is not a health risk, but is, in this study, a more choice healthy. "
But Ivanina pointed out what she described as design flaws in the study. In the first place, the researchers relied on "self-reports" of patients – people who were trying to remember the intake of soda in the past three months, a notoriously unreliable process
"Most people do not remember what they ate yesterday. three months ago, "she said.
Ivanina indicated that the study also did not include information about the patient's eating habits prior to diagnosis, and that it did not include people who died or had a recurrence of cancer within three months of the first food questionnaire, potentially skewing the results.The research team also failed to adapt to other risk factors for colon cancer, such as smoking or eating red meat, said Ivanina
David Bernstein is a gastroenterologist at Northwell Health in Manhbadet, New York. agreed with Ivanina for more and better research to be conducted.
"It is the first of its kind to report such results."
More d & # 39; information
The National Cancer Institute of the United States of America More on Colon Cancer
SOURCES: Elena Ivanina, Gastroenterologist, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York; David Bernstein, MD, Chief, Hepatology, Northwell Health, Manhbadet, N.Y .; Yale University, press release, July 19, 2018
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