Study Says 2 Sodas Per Week Raises Pancreatic Cancer Risk;

[SoCalDem]

Beverage Industry Says Study Is Flawed (surprise surprise)

http://www.webmd.com/cancer/pancreatic-cancer/news/20100208/pancreatic-cancer-linked-sodas


By Kathleen Doheny
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Feb. 8, 2010 -- Drinking as little as two soft drinks a week appears to nearly double the risk of getting pancreatic cancer, according to a new study. ''People who drank two or more soft drinks a week had an 87% increased risk -- or nearly twice the risk -- of pancreatic cancer compared to individuals consuming no soft drinks," says study lead author Noel T. Mueller, MPH, a research associate at the Cancer Control Program at Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C. The study is published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers& Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. The beverage industry took strong exception to the study, calling it flawed and pointing to other research that has found no association between soda consumption and pancreatic cancer. Cancer of the pancreas was diagnosed in about 42,000 people in the U.S. in 2009, according to American Cancer Society estimates, and about 35,240 deaths from the disease were expected. The pancreas lies behind the stomach. It makes hormones such as insulin to balance sugar in the blood and produces juices with enzymes to help break down fats and protein in foods.

snip

Previous studies have produced mixed conclusions about whether consumption of soft drinks boosts the risk of pancreatic cancer. So Mueller and his colleagues evaluated 60,524 men and women enrolled in the Singapore Chinese Health Study, begun in 1993, for up to 14 years, looking at their diet and whether they got cancer. They asked all participants about food intake, including sodas and juices. Mueller says the researchers didn't ask specifically about diet soda consumption, but that most of the soda drunk was regular or sweetened. In Singapore at that time, Mueller says, there was very little intake of diet soda. "We followed the participants for 14 plus years, keeping track of different cancers," he tells WebMD.

They found 140 cases of pancreatic cancer and looked back to see if there was an association with sodas or juices. The researchers divided the consumption of sodas and juices into three categories: none, less than two servings a week, or two or more servings a week. Those who drank two or more a week -- the average number was five -- had the 87% increased risk, Mueller tells WebMD.

No link was found between juices and pancreatic cancer risk.

snip

[Edweird]

1. I am so screwed.

[rpannier]

3. Me too

I have 2 a day

[Whisp]

6. omg, 2 a day?

sorry to be all cardigan mom on your ass but man, thats not good! beer is better than soft drinks swithc to that if you must. ;)

takes a while to convert to water but when you do you will realllllly notice a difference in how much better you feel. I drink maybe about 2 cans a month or so just for a throwback kind of treat - i like it with greasy pizza - shaves your tongue.

[Hawaii Hiker]

19. You're screwed...I've been drinking 6-8 cans of Coke Classic a day for about 10 years

BUT, I'm also 5"10 155 lbs., very active, no booze or drugs, & except for an occassional cookie, never eat candy or chips...

My fasting glucose is 77, which is good..And every year, my MD orders a complete metabolic profile, (& other blood work), & everything is normal..

Can't have too many other weaknesses, have to offset the coke-classic consumption...

[DesertFlower]

2. dr. oz was on "the view" today.

he talked about it. i drink a diet coke once in awhile.

[DesertRat]

25. Dr. Oz said it was the "sugary" sodas that caused the problem

He said that they don't know if diet sodas are any better because they only studied the regular sodas.

[JDPriestly]

28. Sugary sodas -- that would figure.

The part of the pancreas with endocrine function is made up of approximately a million<3> cell clusters called islets of Langerhans. Four main cell types exist in the islets. They are relatively difficult to distinguish using standard staining techniques, but they can be classified by their secretion: α cells secrete glucagon(increase Glucose in blood), β cells secrete insulin (decrease Glucose in blood), δ cells secrete somatostatin (regulates/stops α and β cells), and PP cells secrete pancreatic polypeptide.<4>

The islets are a compact collection of endocrine cells arranged in clusters and cords and are crisscrossed by a dense network of capillaries. The capillaries of the islets are lined by layers of endocrine cells in direct contact with vessels, and most endocrine cells are in direct contact with blood vessels, by either cytoplasmic processes or by direct apposition. According to the volume The Body, by Alan E. Nourse,<5> the islets are "busily manufacturing their hormone and generally disregarding the pancreatic cells all around them, as though they were located in some completely different part of the body."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancreas

The pancreas does heavy duty when you indulge in a lot of sugar.

[Tabasco_Dave]

33. Sugar or corn syrup?

I'd like to know which sweetener was tested.

[lapfog_1]

4. Uh oh...

I guess that 3 to 4 cans a day is not good...

[marybourg]

5. not for your retirement fund either. nt.

[lapfog_1]

14. I'm guessing that I won't need one of those now... - n/t

[madrchsod]

7. i should have been dead a long time ago....

[SoCalDem]

9. You may be one of the "lucky" ones

..the thing is though, we never "know" if we will be among the lucky ones..

[tonysam]

17. Me, too.

Smoking is the biggest risk factor in developing pancreatic cancer.

I call bullshit on this "study."

[DainBramaged]

27. You and me both

no soda, but coffee and diet Lipton green tea in copious amounts.

[aquart]

8. Is it the sweetener or the fizz?

Because I do like selzer.

[SoCalDem]

11. It may be the fizz, but then most people drink the sweet stuff

I do enjoy a perrier once in a while.. I used to like their orange flavor & the lime too....but never any sweetened sodas:)

[aquart]

31. I throw a red zinger or other herb teabag into the selzer.

No sweetener. But delicious.

[DesertRat]

26. Dr. Oz said they only studied sugary sodas

I saw him on the View today.

[azmouse]

10. I stopped drinking soda years ago.

It just doesn't quench thirst.

[Solly Mack]

12. I was told I had a "happy" pancreas a few years back.

Here's hoping it stays happy.

[cali]

13. I drink water. I love water. I love my water

which is spring fed, delicious and icy cold right out of the tap. I drink coffee and juice in the morning and then it's on to water.

[virgogal]

15. Ignore all studies---there will be different results in another study.

[tonysam]

16. Another bullshit "study"

by people who have a vested interest in trying to tell us what to do with our lives.

They can shove their quackery up their ass.

[SoCalDem]

18. Have a Pepsi

:)

[The Doctor.]

20. I know! Just like that big cancer scare with cigarettes!

Damn scientists think they can dictate our behavior!

:evilgrin:


I'll wait till the review.

[scarletlib]

21. Wow!

I gave them up years ago. Mostly just drink water. I do a lot of bad things but drinking soft drinks is not one of them.

[TlalocW]

22. So, 42,000 cases out of 300,000,000 people in the US, more or less

Gives us a rate of 0.014% of the population having pancreatic cancer. Double that, and you get 0.028%. Now that's not exactly good math for various reasons, and there are things like am I already at high risk for pancreatic cancer for other reasons, etc., but I think I'll keep drinking my one or two Pepsis a week.

TlalocW

[SoCalDem]

23. If it happens to YOU or a loved one, it's 100%

:(

[jsamuel]

24. remember

correlation is not equal to causation

People who drink 2 sodas might also be more likely to do other things that may contribute. You have to be careful with this stuff. Besides, 2 sodas a week is such a small amount, they might as well have just said people who drink sugar and people who don't.

I don't drink sugar soda, but I do drink a lot of diet soda.

[TexasObserver]

29. I drink a Brazilian of them a week.

Sure, I'll die sooner, but according to the TV commercials, I live a really fun, interesting life.

[jberryhill]

30. Greetings From the Islets Of Langerhans

The Islets are lovely this time of year....

[Political Heretic]

32. If that's the case I should be dead already. 2-3 diet sodas a day, easy.

[proteus_lives]

34. Well, I'm fucked.

Oh, well. This makes me want a Pepsi.

[krispos42]

35. So I've been dead for like 5 years now?

Jeez, you think somebody would have told me.