TAG | press coverage
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Obesity and Smoking: Both Bad
0 Comments | Posted by Mya in Diet, Physical Activity, Research
Move over smoking, there’s a bigger health-hazard in our country: Obesity. A new study has found that obesity has now become an equal, if not greater, contributor to disease and shortening of a healthy life in comparison to smoking.
In the study, researchers calculated the Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) lost after surveying participants about a set of questions on health-related quality of life, such as asking about recent poor health days.
The results don’t seem that surprising, given the fact that obesity rates have steadily and significantly increased over the years, as smoking rates have decreased. From 1993 to 2008, when the study data was collected, the proportion of smokers among US adults reportedly declined 18.5 percent while obesity increased 85 percent. Smoking had a bigger impact on deaths while obesity had a bigger impact on illness.
The study is scheduled for publication in the February issue of American Journal of Preventive Medicine: You can read the news story about it here.
When it comes to cancer, obesity plays a key role. AICR estimates that approximately 100,000 cancers occurring in the US every year are caused by excess body fat. Add physical activity and a healthy diet to weight management, and we could prevent about one-third of the most common cancers. AICR does not study smoking, but tobacco use is considered to be responsible for a similar percentage of cancer cases – about one-third.
If you want to lose weight, AICR has developed a 3-step weight loss strategy — no dieting required.
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| Smoking and excess body fat: both modifiable risk factors top the list to shorten a healthy life. | |
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Beyond the “Gold Standard”: Diet, Cancer Prevention, and the Randomized Clinical Trial
0 Comments | Posted by Glen in Diet, Research
Last week’s soy-breast cancer study out of China received a fair amount of press. But some of that coverage contained basic assumptions about the nature of cancer research that aren’t accurate.
Take this passage from Time.com:
…. the study was not a randomized clinical trial of soy consumption. That is, rather than randomly assigning breast-cancer survivors to consume or not consume various amounts of soy, then following those participants to see whether they developed recurrent tumors, the study looked retrospectively at women’s self-determined soy-eating habits.
So far so good.
But then came this next bit:
The randomized clinical trial is the gold standard upon which medical practice is determined, and the only kind of trial that gives scientists confidence that other variables are not confounding their results.
Yeah, that’s … not always true. Not when you’re studying something as complex as the human diet, and a disease that can take many years to develop, like cancer.
When it comes to studying diet, lifestyle and cancer prevention, the randomized clinical trial (RCT) is one tool investigators use, but it can’t – and shouldn’t – be considered the be-all and end-all, the “gold standard” in all situations.
After the jump: The difference between studying cancer treatment and studying cancer prevention.
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AICR in PARADE Magazine
0 Comments | Posted by Glen in Diet, Interview, Physical Activity, Research
Very plea
sed to see this story on our recently updated expert report in yesterday’s PARADE Magazine.
Dr. Ranit Mishori‘s Stay Healthy column reminds readers that the recent controversy over mammograms should not distract women from the convincing evidence that diet, weight and physical activity make a big difference in lowering risk.
Includes a nice quote from AICR Director of Research Susan Higginbotham, PhD, RD.
A great way to start the week!
You know our press conference yesterday? The one that got us all that nice coverage that’s raising awareness about the link between excess body fat and cancer risk?
Yeah, funny story:
Two hours before the press conference was scheduled to begin, we arrived to set up the room and discovered that the hotel had accidentally thrown out all our press kits. All of the information we’d prepared for the press – releases, backgrounders, bios – gone.
Eventually, with minutes to spare, the kits were found and fished from the dumpster out back, a bit worse for wear. We slipped them into new folders, and no one was the wiser.
Except for the one reporter who noticed the coffee grounds stuck to his Cancer Risk Awareness Survey.
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Prelim Press Coverage Roundup
0 Comments | Posted by Glen in From the 2009 AICR Research Conference
Lots of people talking about our new estimates on the number of cancers attributable to excess body fat:
Plus items on CBS Radio, ABC Radio, the Washington Post health blog and lots of local evening news broadcasts.
