Cancer and heart attacks now linked to two common but different foods
Scientific investigations are continuing to crack the complexities of cancer and heart attacks, so that future generations can avoid making the same mistakes as their societal predecessors.
Statistically, a cardiac event occurs in the UK every five minutes, while around 403,000 cancer diagnoses are made annually.
But we're not here to scare the living crap out of you with facts and figures, rather, we're keen to highlight the fantastic research done by Dr Marco Witkowski of Berlin's Charité University Hospital, and Dr Keren Papier, senior nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Oxford.
In their separate, eye-widening studies, they've each found links between the stuff we frequently consume and the potentially severe repercussions on our health.
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Presented at this year's European Society of Cardiology Congress, Witkowski spoke of examining whether xylitol (a type of sugar alcohol commonly used in chewing gums, for example) is associated with cardiovascular disasters.
Food and drink, and oral care manufacturers add xylitol to their products as a low-calorie sweetener.
"In previous studies, we showed that xylitol can enhance the ability of platelets to form clots," said Witkowski, per MedicalNewsToday. "We also found that high blood levels of xylitol were linked to cardiovascular events in high-risk individuals over a three-year period."
But what about the population at large? The data was drawn from North American and European testing that involved nearly 18,000 participants averaging 60 years in age.
Researchers found that the participants with the highest levels of xylitol in their blood carried a significantly higher chance of experiencing a heart attack or stroke, than those with the lowest count.
"Our long-term findings in the general population highlight how little we know about the cardiovascular safety of xylitol and indicate that further studies are warranted," commented Witkowski.
Meanwhile, Dan Atar of the European Society of Cardiology Communication Committee went on to state: "Artificial sweeteners are widely embraced by modern society, and their safety ratings have been favourable and granted by regulatory authorities.
"In this observational work, however, it appears that xylitol has a negative long-term effect on cardiovascular events in the general population."
Stanley Hazen, chairman of the Department of Heart, Blood & Kidney Research at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, also urged caution when it comes to ingesting xylitol.
"A growing body of research suggests sugar alcohols like xylitol and erythritol may not be a simple substitute for sugar to avoid calories. There is data showing they can enhance risk for clotting events like heart attack or stroke."
When it comes to the cancer side of things, Dr Papier's study results were arguably more shocking.
Hear this: drinking scorching-hot tea or coffee triples the risk of developing cancer of the gullet (oesophageal).
Revealed in the International Journal of Cancer, these revelations could alter the way we all spend our mornings; desperate for a wet pick-me-up in the dark damp winter before work.
The temperature of the drink, and the number of scolding brews we consume increases the chances of being diagnosed with oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) specifically, but not the other oesophageal disease, adenocarcinoma (AC).
"After controlling for drink temperature, daily consumption of six or more versus fewer than six hot drinks was associated with a 71% increase in SCC risk, with little association with AC risk," researchers wrote.
These findings were based on analysis of 980,000 UK citizens who enjoy their drinks rather hot.
Topics: Lifestyle, Health, Cancer, Food And Drink
Dan Seddon