Calcium link to prostate cancer risk, study

Too much milk and cheese appears to increase the risk of prostate cancer in male smokers, say researchers from the US National Cancer Institute.

After examining data from the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene (ATBC) Cancer Prevention Study, Panagiota Mitrou and colleagues from the National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland concluded that there was a link between calcium consumption and prostate cancer risk.

"We found a strong, graded, positive association between calcium intake and total prostate cancer risk," said the researchers.

They claimed that after adjusting the data for potentially influential variables, the risk of prostate cancer was 63 per cent greater for men who consumed 2,000 milligrams per day or more of calcium compared with those who consumed less than 1,000 milligrams per day.

The ATBC study examined the eating habits of 27,028 Finnish male smokers between the ages of 50 and 69 years old.

During 17 years of follow-up, the team identified 1,267 cases of prostate cancer.

Source: International Journal of Cancer

Bonnie - this would make sense. First, men do not need a lot of calcium. In Finland, they consume a ton of dairy products. Fins have very little sun exposure, and I would venture to say that they are vitamin D-deficient as a population. Hence, the potential for cancer would be more prevalent, especially with vitamin D's potential cancer prevention properties.

In addition, the rate of osteoporosis and heart disease are very high in Finland, which is once again, an immense consumer of dairy products.