Heart Risks May Boost Women's Colon Cancer Risk, Too
This was true even in normal-weight women, study suggests
Email this page to a friend Print Facebook Twitter Google+ Subscribe to RSS
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
HealthDay news image
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 1, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Even normal-weight women may be at greater risk for colon cancer if they have certain traits, such as elevated levels of blood fat, high blood sugar, high blood pressure and low levels of good cholesterol, a new study suggests.
Among older women of normal weight, those with so-called metabolic risk factors had a 49 percent increased risk for cancers of the colon, rectum and sigmoid colon (the lower part of the intestine connecting the rectum and colon) compared with healthy counterparts.
Current guidelines recommend colon cancer screening primarily based on a person's age. But identifying at-risk individuals by their metabolic type could help prevent these cancers and catch them at an earlier stage, saving more lives, the study authors concluded.
https://medlineplus.gov/news/fullstory_163366.html