Antibiotic Use Is a Fla****ng Indicator for Cancer Risk
by Barbara L. Minton
November 12, 2008
(NaturalNews) How ironic that the very thing we were taught would save
us may actually be increasing our chances of death from a fatal
disease. Recent research has established the link between antibiotic
use and cancer.
The International Journal of Cancer, August 14th issue re****ts a
nationwide cohort study to determine whether antibiotic use predicts
the development of various cancers. The research included 3,112,624
individuals, aged 30-79 years, with no history of cancer. Information
on their antibiotic use between 1995 and 1997 was obtained from the
Drug Prescription Registry in Finland. During the period from
1998-2004, 134,070 cancer cases were do***ented from the Finnish
Cancer Registry. Regression analysis was used to estimate the relative
risks.
Antibiotic use was associated with increased risk of cancer as
follows: in the reference group having 0-1 antibiotic prescriptions,
the risk of cancer was not increased (1.0). In the group having 2-5
prescriptions, the risk of cancer was 1.27, an increase in relative
risk of 27%. In the greater than 6 prescriptions group, the risk of
cancer was 1.37, and increase in relative risk of 37%.
Relative risks for the most common primary sites of the cancer were
1.39 for prostate, 1.14 for breast, 1.79 for lung, 1.15 for colon, and
2.60 for endocrine gland.
The hypothesis that use of antibiotics may increase risk of cancer was
first proposed several decades ago. However, biological and
epidemiological studies of the association were limited until the year
2000 when another cohort study in Finland looked at breast cancer
patients. After researchers investigated 10,000 women, they found that
those younger than 50 who re****ted taking antibiotics for urinary
tract infections had elevated rates of breast cancer compared with
women who didn=92t use antibiotics.
Then in 2004, scientists from the University of Wa****ngton, the
National Cancer Institute, the Group Health Cooperative and Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle sought to examine the
association between the use of antibiotics and risk of breast cancer.
For their case-controlled study, they examined the health records of
2,266 women over the age of 19, with primary invasive breast cancer.
They also randomly selected 7,953 females as controls.
They found that increasing ***ulative days of antibiotic use were
associated with increased risk of incidence of breast cancer as
follows: for categories of increasing use (0, 1-50, 51-100, 100-500,
501-1000, and greater than 1001 ***ulative days), the odds for breast
cancer development were 1.00 [reference group], 1.45, 1.53, 1.68,
2.14, and 2.07. These finding show that the risk of breast cancer
doubled in those who had used antibiotics for more than 500 ***ulative
days. The re****ted antibiotic use included not only the class of
fluoroquinolones, known to be carcinogenic, but also such antibiotics
as tetracycline, erythromycin, penicillin VK and cephalexin.
Antibiotics were shown to be an even greater risk factor than
synthetic hormone replacement therapy (HRT), according to the lead
researcher. Synthetic HRT has been shown to pose a 30-40 percent
increased risk to women for getting breast cancer. This study found
that women who used the most antibiotics had up to twice the risk as
women who did not use antibiotics.
The researchers place their results in the context that antibiotics
may be associated with the risk of breast cancer through their effects
on immune function, inflammation, and metabolism of estrogen and
phytochemicals. Additional associations may include the long-term
toxic effects of drugs on body function, and the overburdening of
liver function in response to this toxic load. The undermining of
immune function may include a surge in the growth of intestinal
pathogens in response to the antibiotic suppression of the friendly
bacteria. Since 80% of the immune response depends on proper bacterial
balance in the intestinal tract, the overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria
may indirectly interfere with immune functioning.
At this point, the contextual speculations are only that. These
studies are able to establish correlation. No cause-effect
relation****p between antibiotics and cancer has yet been established.
Undoubtedly it is best to handle suspected infections without the use
of antibiotics. Proper food sanitation, a diet that provides maximum
nutrition, regular exercise and stress reduction go a long way toward
keeping you healthy. Eliminating products that contain artificial
ingredients that must be detoxified by your liver is another good
strategy. You can keep your intestinal tract well populated with
friendly bacteria by using a good probiotic, or by consuming fermented
foods and cultured foods containing live bacteria such as yogurt or
kefir.
It=92s also a good idea to keep some immune boosters on hand. If you
take them at the very first sign of a bacterial or viral problem, you
can usually head if off before the bugs get out of control. An immune
system booster that is particularly effective is the organic Insure
Immune Sup****t made by Zand, available at (www.LuckyVitamin.com) . Be
sure to order the organic version (they also make one that is not
organic). If cost is not an issue for you, another good product is
Immunify available at (www.baselinenutritionals.com) .
Since your goal is an immune system that is functioning optimally,
it=92s a good idea to use an immune system modulator along with a
booster, to make sure the system remains balanced. Garlic and the herb
Astragalus are good choices for immune system normalizers.
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