Risk Factors for Cancer Death

More Than One Third of Cancer Deaths May be Attributable to Nine Modifiable Risk Factors is one of the headlines on the Medscape Medical News sent out Nov. 21, 2005. Though this may seem like 'old news' it is still true today. We have more control over our health and its outcome than we give ourselves credit for. The nine factors that are mentioned are very modifiable depending on what each one of us thinks is possible.

Here they are: smoking, excessive alcohol use, low consumption of fruits and vegetables, high body mass index, physical inactivity, unsafe sex, urban air pollution, indoor use of solid fuels, and injections from healthcare settings contaminated with hepatitis B or C virus.
In high-income countries smoking, alcohol use, and overweight and obesity were the most important causes of cancer.

Source: Lancet. 2005; 366:1784-1793

Major Cognitive Decline Linked to High Fat, High Copper Diet

In the August 2006 issue of the Archives of Neurology a study was published where they found that a diet high in saturated and trans fats, coupled with a high intake of copper may be associated with a significantly accelerated rate of cognitive decline in older adults.
The Study was done at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. The researchers found high amounts of dietary saturated and trans fats and total copper intake of 1.6 mg/day or more had an impact on an individual's cognitive function that was the equivalent of adding 19 years to their age.

They did not find that copper was harmful at all in people who did not have this high-fat diet. 'But the combination of the two had a significant detrimental effect,' said principal investigator, Martha Clare Morris, ScD, when she was interviewed by Medscape.

What can we learn from this study? Try to avoid trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils) as much as possible in addition to saturated fats. If you cannot change your dietary patterns and you are taking copper supplements, perhaps you should look at decreasing your intake of the supplement.