By Henry J. Fishman, M.D.
ConsumerAffairs.com
August 8, 2005
A healthy diet may help overcome a family history of colon cancer according to a report in the Journal of Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention.
Researchers surveyed 90,000 women. Among them, 535 had developed colon cancer in a 16 year period. Women with a family history of colon cancer who ate a diet low in folate, vitamins A and B had 2.7 times the risk of women with a family history of colon cancer.
Women with a family history of colon cancer who ate a high folate diet or took supplements had the same risks as women without a family history.
Eating a lot of eggs, meat and cheeses which contain methioine, amino acid also overcame the risk of family history.
Too much alcohol made the risk worse. Women who drank two drinks a day or more and who had a family history increased their rise of colon cancer nearly 400 percent.
