Health

nitpicker

(7,153 posts) Wed Apr 17, 2019, 05:52 AM Apr 2019

(UK) A rasher of bacon a day 'ups cancer risk'

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-47947965

A rasher of bacon a day 'ups cancer risk'

9 hours ago

Even small amounts of red and processed meat - such as a rasher of bacon a day - can increase the risk of bowel cancer, according to research. The latest study led by Oxford University and funded by Cancer Research UK, adds to evidence, including from the World Health Organization, that eating red meat can be harmful.
(snip)

Researchers analysed data from almost half a million people involved in the UK Biobank study. Over the six years of their study they found 2,609 people developed bowel cancer.

They estimate:
◾Eating three rashers of bacon a day rather than just one could increase the risk of bowel cancer by 20%
◾For every 10,000 people in the study who ate 21g a day of red and processed meat, 40 were diagnosed with bowel cancer
◾The comparable figure for those who ate 76g a day, was 48

According to the NHS, 76g of cooked red meat is equivalent to about half an 8oz sirloin steak. A slice of ham or rasher of bacon is about 23g of processed meat.
(snip)

11 replies

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(UK) A rasher of bacon a day 'ups cancer risk' (Original Post) nitpicker Apr 2019 OP

Ok, I admit I had to Google what a rasher of bacon was. dewsgirl Apr 2019 #1

I'll take my chances Loki Liesmith Apr 2019 #2

Why not, that's what I did. I still have a half a colon. Quiting process meats became VERY easy. marble falls Apr 2019 #3

I don't care Loki Liesmith Apr 2019 #5

In that case, please feel free to eat my share. marble falls Apr 2019 #7

First of all, the actual risk in either group is quite small. PoindexterOglethorpe Apr 2019 #4

It's a database of correlations Loki Liesmith Apr 2019 #6

Thank you. PoindexterOglethorpe Apr 2019 #8

Yet as smoking rates decline in the US, cancer rates aren't dropping as much as they should NickB79 Apr 2019 #10

That and people live long enough PoindexterOglethorpe Apr 2019 #11

I hate these kind of reports on studies by the media as if they are gospel. TexasProgresive Apr 2019 #9

dewsgirl

(14,961 posts)

1. Ok, I admit I had to Google what a rasher of bacon was.

Reply to nitpicker (Original post)

Wed Apr 17, 2019, 07:02 AM

Apr 2019

It says,1 thin slice. If that is accurate, this a very scary study.

Loki Liesmith

(4,602 posts)

2. I'll take my chances

Reply to nitpicker (Original post)

Wed Apr 17, 2019, 07:04 AM

Apr 2019

marble falls

(60,136 posts)

3. Why not, that's what I did. I still have a half a colon. Quiting process meats became VERY easy.

Reply to Loki Liesmith (Reply #2)

Wed Apr 17, 2019, 08:07 AM

Apr 2019

Loki Liesmith

(4,602 posts)

5. I don't care

Reply to marble falls (Reply #3)

Wed Apr 17, 2019, 11:55 AM

Apr 2019

marble falls

(60,136 posts)

7. In that case, please feel free to eat my share.

Reply to Loki Liesmith (Reply #5)

Wed Apr 17, 2019, 01:29 PM

Apr 2019

PoindexterOglethorpe

(26,124 posts)

4. First of all, the actual risk in either group is quite small.

Reply to nitpicker (Original post)

Wed Apr 17, 2019, 11:23 AM

Apr 2019

Second, I wonder how well controlled that study is. Am I to believe that all those ate exactly the same diet except for the bacon? Well, probably not.

Loki Liesmith

(4,602 posts)

6. It's a database of correlations

Reply to PoindexterOglethorpe (Reply #4)

Wed Apr 17, 2019, 11:56 AM

Apr 2019

Little in the way of causality here

PoindexterOglethorpe

(26,124 posts)

8. Thank you.

Reply to Loki Liesmith (Reply #6)

Wed Apr 17, 2019, 01:35 PM

Apr 2019

People tend to totally freak out over these things, in no small part because most of them simply don't understand numbers, let alone statistics of any kind.

A couple of interesting books about cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee, and The Cancer Chronicles by George Johnson.

The latter one is especially good as it points out that even dinosaurs got cancer. It is not a modern disease, or only from environmental triggers. Cancer rates in humans seem to have been pretty steady for thousands of years. And other than getting lucky in your genetics, pretty much the only thing you can do to minimize cancer risk is to not smoke. It helps to not spend too much time around asbestos, but not smoking is huge.

NickB79

(19,474 posts)

10. Yet as smoking rates decline in the US, cancer rates aren't dropping as much as they should

Reply to PoindexterOglethorpe (Reply #8)

Sat Apr 20, 2019, 09:58 AM

Apr 2019

As cancers from obesity take the place of cancers from smoking.

https://nationalpost.com/news/world/obesity-might-replace-tobacco-as-top-cause-for-cancer-yet-only-few-are-aware-of-the-link/amp

It is well-established by numerous studies that drinking alcohol, being obese, smoking, and not getting an HPV vaccination will all increase cancer risks.

PoindexterOglethorpe

(26,124 posts)

11. That and people live long enough

Reply to NickB79 (Reply #10)

Sat Apr 20, 2019, 11:26 AM

Apr 2019

to get cancer.

I remember my mother (who was born in 1916) once commenting on someone she knew who'd gotten cancer and died at an early age, "She was too young to get cancer," then correcting herself, because she realized while somewhat uncommon, young people could and did get cancer.

And for a very long time doctors didn't always tell their patients that they had cancer, or the family conspired not to let the person know.

TexasProgresive

(12,243 posts)

9. I hate these kind of reports on studies by the media as if they are gospel.

Reply to nitpicker (Original post)

Wed Apr 17, 2019, 09:29 PM

Apr 2019

They may be true or not, and along comes another study disproving a study. This has been going on for most of my 69 years. Just take coffee, it's bad, it's good, it's bad, it's good, it's bad, it's good - I forget whether it's good or bad according to the latest study.

I think the reporting of studies like this to the general public is what has given science a black eye. People think they don't know anything and I'll believe what I want such as vaccinations are bad and the earth is flat with an ice wall around the edges.

I am not saying that cured and processed meats are not dangerous in some way.

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