Posted on 07/11/2007 5:36:47 PM PDT by neverdem
Asian-Americans, both those born here and new immigrants, have distinctive patterns of cancer incidence that doctors should consider when treating them, researchers have found.
A report appearing today in the journal CA is “one of the most comprehensive summaries of cancer among Asian-Americans,” according to the American Cancer Society, which publishes the journal.
The report is based on information on cancer cases collected by California from 2000 to 2002, and focuses on five ethnic groups: Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese. The state has a large Asian population, 3.7 million, and carefully sorts its cancer data by ethnic group.
When all cancers are combined, Asian-Americans actually have lower rates than other groups in the United States. But cancer is still a major cause of death for Asians, killing more of them than heart disease. Different groups appear prone to different types of cancer.
Groups that have been in this country the longest are likely to develop cancers that are most common here, like breast and colorectal cancer, though their rates are still significantly below those of non-Hispanic whites. The risk of those cancers may be increased by obesity, inactivity, high alcohol intake and diets rich in fat and low in fruits and vegetables, and the rates in Asians seem to rise gradually as they adopt more and more American habits.
Recent immigrants, by contrast, tend to suffer from the same types of cancer that are predominant in their native countries, like stomach and liver cancer. In developing countries, those cancers are often caused by chronic infections with certain bacteria and viruses that are routinely treated or prevented in the United States.
“I was surprised to see the diversity in cancer among the ethnic groups,” said Melissa McCracken, an epidemiologist with the cancer society and the first author of the report...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The article is a FReebie.
Eating a diet of vegetables, rice and meat is apparently healthier than a Big Mac, Fries and Coke. Who’d a thunk?
Yes, I think physicians here in the U.S. would be well-advised to keep this unusually high incidence of stomach cancer in mind when treating patients of Japanese descent.
Asian Pacific Islander Cancer Education Materials Tool
Those are links from the original CA article. This is one of the reasons that I still like to check the NY Times. They linked the original article's abstract on their webpage. But as is their wont, they go from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Warming Report Warns of Increased Flooding
Scientists zero in on bacterium killing sheep (Bighorns)
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
Before my uncle died of stomach cancer I read an article that said there was evidence that the higher rate was caused by the consumption of pickled vegetables,soy sauce and very salty dried fish.Also low vitamin c intake.
Of course I just happened to eat most of the above for lunch today.
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