"I personally believe that the effect of lifestyle is so important that I think we will come to the
point of where we have to increase the price of food," said Paul Kleihues, from the International
Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France
Comments:
1. I thought that in most Western European nations, people are already taxed up to their ears
anyway and that it includes taxing food. But if 'consumption tax' replaces 'income tax' then
he has my full support😉
2. I also doubt that all it takes is any "BMI less than 30", 25 seems more logic to me.
Diet and exercise show immediate changes in biomarkers for cancer risk 29 October 2003 16:00 GMT by
Rabiya S. Tuma news.bmn.comstoryOpen ↗
the field of cancer prevention, but they are the ones that seem to work most reliably. Top
scientists and clinical researchers in the field of cancer prevention gathered for the American
Association for Cancer Research's second annual meeting devoted to the subject of prevention. And
despite numerous talks dedicated to the latest, newest, best, cancer-blocking drugs, researchers
emphasized over and over that the things they know work for reducing cancer rates are restricting
calorie intake and increasing exercise.
"I personally believe that the effect of lifestyle is so important that I think we will come to the
point of where we have to increase the price of food," said Paul Kleihues, from the International
Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France and a member of the conference organizing committee.
It is a very cynical thing to say, he admits, given the imbalance of food distribution in the world.
But he likens the difficulty in losing weight to that of giving up smoking, and given the epidemic
of obesity in the US and the impending one in Europe, this may be the best way to control future
cancer rates, says Kleihues.
In one study, researchers from the South Manchester University Hospitals in Manchester, UK, found
that even short-term weight loss, over a period of just six months, induces positive changes in
various biomarkers associated with an increased risk of developing breast cancer.
Specifically, the team saw that women who decreased their weight by 5% or more over the course of
the study had a significant decrease in the
globulin, which impacts the amount of bioavailable estrogen in the system. The women in the study
who either stayed at the same weight or gained weight did not demonstrate significant changes in the
biomarkers.
Although the study was small, with only 79 women enrolled, all of the participants are at high risk
for breast cancer and so the biomarker changes may be clinically important. Michelle Harvey, who led
the study, emphasizes that although these changes are consistent with reduced breast-cancer risk,
the researchers only reported a change in biomarkers. It remains unclear if the women who lost
weight will show a reduced rate of cancer development.
"Even relatively small changes in weight can be significant," said Harvey.
In a second study demonstrating the value of lifestyle changes, researchers found that women who
were lean, with a body mass index less than 30, and physically active tended to have less dense
breast tissue, a condition associated with an increased risk for breast cancer. The study is part of
the Health, Eating, Activity and Lifestyle (HEAL) study, a multicenter effort to decipher the roles
of lifestyle choices on breast cancer risk.
"This is an important study because we know that exercise affects breast cancer risk but we don't
know how," said John Potter from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington.
The new data may point toward the mechanism that underlies the findings.