Diet high in calcium reduces cancer rate

BEIJING, Feb 28 (Chinese medianet)--Food-based

calciummay help protect against some cancers, says a study.

The research conducted onnearly half a million

older men and women bolsters evidence that diets high in calcium havemore

benefits rather than calcium tablets.

The new research involved food questionnaires from

participants and a follow-up check of records for cancer cases during the

subsequent seven years. This research method is less rigorous than some previous

but more powerful. The study-- with492,810 people and more than 50,000

cancers-- favored the idea that calcium may somehow keep cells from becoming

cancerous, said University of North Carolina nutrition expert John Anderson, who

was not involved in the study.

The study was run jointly by the National Institutes

of Health and AARP. National Cancer Institute researcher Yikyung Park, the

study's lead author, called the results strong but said more studies are needed

to confirm the findings.

Participants were AARP members aged 50 to 71 who

began the study in the mid-1990s. A total of 36,965 men and 16,605 women were

later diagnosed with cancer. There were more than 10 different kinds of cancer,

the most common being prostate, breast, lung and colorectal.

Compared with people who got little calcium, those

who consumed the most had the lowest chances of getting colon cancer. Those in

that highest category got on average 1,530 milligrams a day among men and 1,881

milligrams daily among women. Men who got the most calcium from food were about

30 percent less likely to get cancer of the esophagus, about 20 percent less

likely to get head and neck cancer and 16 percent less likely to get colon

cancer, when compared to men who got low amounts of calcium.

Women who got the most calciumrich

dietwere 28 percent less likely to get colon cancer than low-calcium

women.

(Agencies)