African American Women Need Earlier Screening for Breast Cancer

Written by Drahcir Semaj


Breast cancer isrepparttar second leading cause of death for women, ages 40-55, and African American women underrepparttar 114489 age of 45 are more likely to develop breast cancer than any other group of women inrepparttar 114490 US.

Every three minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer; every 12 minutes a woman dies from breast cancer and every year over 5000 African American women die fromrepparttar 114491 disease.

Althoughrepparttar 114492 cause of breast cancer is still unclear, researchers have determined that African American women tend to develop breast cancer at earlier ages than white women and they typically develop more aggressive types of tumors.

Breast cancer often occurs in African American women underrepparttar 114493 age of 40 and as early as age 25.

In a study of breast cancer tumors in African American and white women, conducted byrepparttar 114494 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in 2004, researchers determined that breast tumors in young African American women were more likely to be fast-growing and more aggressive than those found in white women. "One ofrepparttar 114495 important conclusions from this study is that even when you correct for stage — that is, look at tumors ofrepparttar 114496 same stage from white women and African American women — tumors fromrepparttar 114497 African-American women tend to have features characteristic of more aggressive and rapidly growing cancers," said Dr. Peggy Porter, lead author ofrepparttar 114498 study. "If their tumors tend to grow more quickly, this may help to explain why their cancers are being diagnosed at later stages, which can lead to poorer outcomes."

Other studies have indicated that there are other possible reasons that African American women suffer high death rates from breast cancer: unemployment or underemployment, lack of health insurance, and lack of proper health education have all been cited as possible socioeconomic contributing factors.

Benefits of a High Fiber Diet

Written by Robert Rogers


Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol and high in fiber are associated with a reduced risk of certain cancers, diabetes, digestive disorders, and heart disease.

Diets low in fat and rich in fiber-containing grain products, fruits, and vegetables may reducerepparttar risk of some types of cancer.

Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol and rich in fruits, vegetables, and grain products that contain fiber, particularly soluble fiber, may reducerepparttar 114488 risk of coronary heart disease.

Diets low in fat and rich in fruits and vegetables, which are low-fat foods and may contain fiber or vitamin A (as beta-carotene) and vitamin C, may reducerepparttar 114489 risk of some cancers.

Found only in plant foods, such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds, fiber is composed of complex carbohydrates. Some fibers are soluble in water and others are insoluble. Most plant foods contain some of each kind.

Some foods containing high levels of soluble fiber are dried beans, oats, barley, and some fruits, notably apples and citrus, and vegetables, such as potatoes. Foods high in insoluble fiber are wheat bran, whole grains, cereals, seeds, andrepparttar 114490 skins of many fruits and vegetables.

Fiber's Health Benefits

What can fiber do for you? Numerous epidemiologic (population-based) studies have found that diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol and high in fiber are associated with a reduced risk of certain cancers, diabetes, digestive disorders, and heart disease. However, since high-fiber foods may also contain antioxidant vitamins, phytochemicals, and other substances that may offer protection against these diseases, researchers can't say for certain that fiber alone is responsible forrepparttar 114491 reduced health risks they observe, notes Joyce Saltsman, a nutritionist with FDA's Office of Food Labeling. "Moreover, no one knows whether one specific type of fiber is more beneficial than another since fiber-rich foods tend to contain various types," she adds.

Recent findings onrepparttar 114492 health effects of fiber show it may play a role in:

Cancer: Epidemiologic studies have consistently noted an association between low total fat and high fiber intakes and reduced incidence of colon cancer. A 1992 study by researchers at Harvard Medical School found that men who consumed 12 grams of fiber a day were twice as likely to develop precancerous colon changes as men whose daily fiber intake was about 30 grams. The exact mechanism for reducingrepparttar 114493 risk is not known, but scientists theorize that insoluble fiber adds bulk to stool, which in turn dilutes carcinogens and speeds their transit throughrepparttar 114494 lower intestines and out ofrepparttar 114495 body.

The evidence that a high-fiber diet can protect against breast cancer is equivocal. Researchers analyzing data fromrepparttar 114496 Nurses' Health Study, which tracked 89,494 women for eight years, concluded in 1992 that fiber intake has no influence on breast cancer risk in middle-aged women. Previously, a review and analysis of 12 studies found a link between high fiber intake and reduced risk.

Inrepparttar 114497 early stages, some breast tumors are stimulated by excess amounts of estrogen circulating inrepparttar 114498 bloodstream. Some scientists believe that fiber may hamperrepparttar 114499 growth of such tumors by binding with estrogen inrepparttar 114500 intestine. This preventsrepparttar 114501 excess estrogen from being reabsorbed intorepparttar 114502 bloodstream.

Digestive disorders: Because insoluble fiber aids digestion and adds bulk to stool, it hastens passage of fecal material throughrepparttar 114503 gut, thus helping to prevent or alleviate constipation. Fiber also may help reducerepparttar 114504 risk of diverticulosis, a condition in which small pouches form inrepparttar 114505 colon wall (usually fromrepparttar 114506 pressure of straining during bowel movements). People who already have diverticulosis often find that increased fiber consumption can alleviate symptoms, which include constipation and/or diarrhea, abdominal pain, flatulence, and mucus or blood inrepparttar 114507 stool.

Diabetes: As with cholesterol, soluble fiber traps carbohydrates to slow their digestion and absorption. In theory, this may help prevent wide swings in blood sugar level throughoutrepparttar 114508 day. Additionally, a new study fromrepparttar 114509 Harvard School of Public Health, published inrepparttar 114510 Feb. 12 issue ofrepparttar 114511 Journal ofrepparttar 114512 American Medical Association, suggests that a high-sugar, low-fiber diet more than doubles women's risk of Type II (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes. Inrepparttar 114513 study, cereal fiber was associated with a 28 percent decreased risk, with fiber from fruits and vegetables having no effect. In comparison, cola beverages, white bread, white rice, and french fries increasedrepparttar 114514 risk.

High-fiber diets may help bluntrepparttar 114515 effects of smoking and other risk factors for heart disease.

Heart Disease: Clinical studies show that a heart-healthy diet (low in saturated fat and cholesterol, and high in fruits, vegetables and grain products that contain soluble fiber) can lower blood cholesterol. In these studies, cholesterol levels dropped between 0.5 percent and 2 percent for every gram of soluble fiber eaten per day.

As it passes throughrepparttar 114516 gastrointestinal tract, soluble fiber binds to dietary cholesterol, helpingrepparttar 114517 body to eliminate it. This reduces blood cholesterol levels, which, in turn, reduces cholesterol deposits on arterial walls that eventually choke offrepparttar 114518 vessel. There also is some evidence that soluble fiber can slowrepparttar 114519 liver's manufacture of cholesterol, as well as alter low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles to make them larger and less dense. Researchers believe that small, dense LDL particles pose a bigger health threat.

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