Digestive
Disease Week 2009
Results of a study involving Hispanic immigrants showed that their rates
of colon cancer increased as they became more accustomed to life in the United
States, and particularly as they adopted a high-fat Western diet.
“Acculturation was a significant independent predictor of colon
cancer, and it was associated with certain dietary profiles like increased fat
content from pastries and decreased milk consumption,” said Neal
Joseph, MD, of the New York University School of Medicine. Joseph presented
the results at Digestive Disease Week 2009 in Chicago.
Researchers enrolled 807 self-identified Hispanics referred for
screening colonoscopy at New York University School of Medicine. Most patients,
93%, were immigrants who had been in the United States for an average of 28
years. The researchers administered a validated acculturation survey along with
a standardized dietary habit assessment to a subset of patients.
The prevalence of adenomas was higher among the acculturated patients
compared with the non-acculturated patients (25% vs. 11%, P=.046). Among
the dietary factors assessed, acculturated Hispanics were more likely to
consume pastries (72% vs. 55%, P=.047) and less likely to drink milk
(69% vs. 86%, P=.036). After controlling for age, gender, BMI and number
of years in the United States, Joseph said acculturation remained a significant
predictor for disease (OR=4.5; 95% CI, 1.2-1.8).
“It’s a product of the Westernized diet,” he said.
“We can’t simply say that it’s these two things that cause
increased colorectal cancer risk, but it’s a study that can show that they
are linked, and we need more studies with larger sample sizes to show this
link.” – by Jason Harris
What we eat is hugely important. Most physicians still think of disease
as something that falls from the sky into our laps, but disease in a large part
depends on how we live, on what we eat. There is no question that our diet of
ridiculous amounts of dairy and refined carbohydrates and meat and processed
food is making us sick and is without question contributing to the high rates
of disease we’re seeing in my specialty of gastroenterology: reflux
disease, diverticulosis, colon cancer, gall bladder disease. When we look at a
factor like acculturation, smoking and diet are the two largest factors in
terms of disease.
– Robynne Chutkan, MD
Assistant Professor of Gastroenterology
Georgetown
University Hospital, Washington, D.C.
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