Alarming News on rBGH -- IGF -1 Increases Cancer Risks

[Guest guest]

Alarming News on rBGH --

IGF-1 Increases Cancer Risks

http://organicconsumers.org/rbgh/cancer091302.cfm

 

Sept. 11, 2002

 

Web Note from Dr. Michael Hansen <han-; of the

Consumers Union, a noted expert and critic of Monsanto's controversial

recombinantBovine Growth Hormone, now being injected into 15% of all US dairy

cows.

 

Dear all,

 

This [Reuter's article] is important stuff. Although there had been a

study a couple of years ago in the American Dietetic Assn journal that

found that increasedmilk consumption lead to a 10% increase in IGF-1 levels

blood serum,

this studyis stronger because it is larger and is more prestigious as

the famous nurses study from Harvard and Brigham and Women's Hospital.

 

Also it clearly makes the link between IGF-1 and cancer (of lung, breast, and

colon)--in a pull quote no less ( " Higher levels of insulin-like growth factor 1,

or IGF-1, have been associated with increased risk of colon, lung and

breastcancer " )--and suggests that it may be the mechanism for reduced rates of

breast and colon cancer in women who've had multiple pregnancies, who show a15%

increase in serum IGF-1 levels compared to women who haven't been pregnant

( " Pregnancy is known to protect against several cancers such as breast and colon

cancer.

 

It is possible that the mechanism of this protection could be through

lowering IGF-1 levels " ).

 

It also points out that serum IGF-1 levels are higher in women who drink

a lot of milk and even says " This association raises the possibility that diet

could increase cancer risk by increasing levels of IGF-1 in the blood stream. "

 

This data jives very well with the Am Dietetic Assn journal study as that was a

controlled study where the diets were iso-caloric (e.g. same calorie

intake)and where consumption of 3 glasses of milk per day increased

serum IGF-1 levels by about 10% compared to those that didn't drink milk. The

iso-caloric point is important as it is known that larger calorie

intake is associated with increased secretion of IGF-1 (which is also

known to help with digestion).

 

In fact, a study published in 1997 in the British journal Cancer

Research found that mice on calorie restricted diets (20% lower

calories than normal diet) had far fewer tumors than mice on a normal

diet (thesemice had been dosed with a known bladder carginogen); the calorie

restriction appeared to protect them from the tumors.

 

If the calorie-

restricted mice were given a tiny quantitiy of IGF-1 to restore the

IGF-1 levels to what they were in a full calorie diet, the protective

effect disappeared, which implicated IGF-1 as the agent that promoted

the tumors.

 

Overall, the British study suggested that perhaps some of the diet-

relatedlinks to cancer may be mediated by IGF-1:

 

" Diet contributes to over one-third of cancer deaths in the Western

world, yet the factors in the diet that influence cancer are not elucidated. A

reduction in caloric intake

dramatically slows cancer progression in rodents and this may be a

major contribution to dietary effects on cancer. . . In conclusion, DR

[dietaryrestriction] lowered IGF-1 levels [by 24%], thereby favoring

apotosis [cell death; was 10-fold higher DR-treated mice than mice with normal

diet] overcell proliferation [6-fold higher in hyperplastic foci in mice with

IGF-1 +DR] and ultimately slowing tumour progression. This is the

firstmechanistic study demonstrating that IGF-1 supplementation abrogates the

protective effect of DR on neoplastic progression "

(Dunn et al., 1997:4667).

 

When you combine this study (and the Am Dietetic Assn study) with

the 1997 Japanese study (which used radioactively labeled IGF-1) that

foundthat 9% of IGF-1 fed to mice survived digestion and could be pulled

intact outof the bloodstream and that this figure increased to 67% when

the IGF-1was fed along with casein (the major milk protein)

(Kimura et

al., 1997), itprovides very strong circumstantial evidence that increased

levels of IGF-1in milk from rbGH-treated cows could have a potential

negative impact on humanhealth.

 

And it suggests that the arguments that milk consumption

can't have an impact on serum IGF-1 levels (becauses the levels in

milk are in the 3-6 ng/ml range, while the level in serum is in the

100ng/ml range)and that IGF-1 doesn't survive digestion (both FDA and Monsanto

arguements)don't hold water. Indeed, this study seems to vindicate the arguments

that/we have been making for over the past decade. Any possibility that this

could lead to some kind of legal action on rbGH?

 

Michael Hansen

 

 

 

 

Milk, Pregnancy, Cancer May Be Tied

 

Study culls data from long-term analysis of 1,000 nurses

Reuters

 

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 < Pregnancy may lower a woman¹s risk of cancer

but drinking milk could raise it, researchers reported on Tuesday.

Both factors,

as well as the use of hormone replacement therapy, affect levels of a

hormone that may influence the development of some cancers, a team at

Brigham and Women¹s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston

found.

 

Higher levels of insulin-like growth factor 1, or IGF-1, have been

associated with increased risk of colon, lung and breast cancer.

 

THE FINDING could explain why women who have had children have

a lower risk of cancer < something doctors have noticed but been

unable to explain, Dr. Michelle Holmes, who led the study, said.

Pregnancy,

HRT use and milk drinking all affect levels of insulin-like growth

factor 1 or IGF-1, a hormone linked to an increased risk of cancer,

 

Holmes and colleagues report in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers &

Prevention, which is published by the American Association for Cancer Research.

 

 

This is the first study to report that the more pregnancies a women

had, the lower was her blood level of IGF-1,² Holmes said.

" Pregnancy is known to protect against several cancers such as breast

and colon cancer. It is possible that the mechanism of this

protection couldbe through lowering IGF-1 levels. "

 

Women who had four or more pregnancies had IGF-1 levels that were on

average 15 percent lower than in women who had never been pregnant,

the researchers found.

 

MILK CONSUMPTION IS KEY

 

Using data from a large, long-term study of more than 1,000 nurses

whorecord their diets carefully and who are then watched for changes in

health,Holmes' team also found that those who drank the most milk had higher

levelsof IGF-1

 

.. IGF-1 is important to the growth and function of many organs, but

higher levels have been associated with an increased risk of

prostate,colon, lung and breast cancer.

 

" We concluded that greater milk consumption was associated with

higher levels of IGF-1, " said Holmes.

 

" This association raises the possibility that diet could increase cancer risk by

increasing levels of IGF-1 in the blood stream.

_________________

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjoguest

DietaryTipsForHBP

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The complete " Whole Body " Health line consists of the " AIM GARDEN TRIO "

Ask About Health Professional Support Series: AIM Barleygreen

 

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/AIM.html

 

PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER

We have made every effort to ensure that the information included in these pages

is accurate. However, we make no guarantees nor can we assume any responsibility

for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, product, or

process discussed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friends. Fun. Try the all-new Messenger