Originally published October 4 2005
Phytoestrogens help in the fight against lung cancer
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A report from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center states that a diet including soy products, grains, fruits and vegetables offers protection against lung cancer in the form of chemicals known as phytoestrogens.
A diet rich in fruits and vegetables appears to provide protection against lung cancer, according to research published on Tuesday.
The compounds have been shown to have a protective effect against some solid tumors but there has been little research focused on dietary intake and lung cancer, the study added.
"Our main findings were that patients with lung cancer tended to consume lower amounts of phytoestrogens" than healthy people without the disease, the report said.
The apparent benefits were found in both people who never smoked and those who were still smoking -- but it was less evident in people who had quit smoking, for reasons that were not clear, the report added.
Smokers are 20 to 30 times more likely than non-smokers to contract lung cancer, one of the deadliest types of cancer, according to U.S. government figures.
The study was published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association, along with an editorial from researchers at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, who said doctors need to talk more with their patients about the importance of diet in preventing cancer.
"Patients should be informed that they may further reduce their risk of developing cancer by adopting a diet rich in fruits and vegetables," the editorial said.
In a related study published in the same issue researchers at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark said heavy smokers -- defined as those who go through more than 15 cigarettes a day -- can reduce their lung cancer risk by cutting back, although the reduction is not proportional.
The research involved 11,151 men and 8,563 women, aged 20 to 93, who attended two consecutive examinations from five to 10 years apart between 1964 and 1988, with several years of follow-up.
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