Cancer and High Blood Sugar Levels
High blood sugar levels and diabetes
Diabetes is a serious disease that does, in some instances, lead to other equally serious health conditions, the most common of which is cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the diabetic population.
With appropriate preventive care, many of the complications of diabetes can be avoided but unfortunately, when blood sugar levels cannot be controlled, the consequences are dire, including the possibility of the development of kidney disease, blindness, and even lower limb amputations due to diminished blood circulation and vascular problems caused by the high levels of blood sugars that affect many diabetics.
And now add cancer to the list
It appears that cancer should now be added to that list. Without yet being able to identify the reasons, research studies provide evidence that people with diabetes are more likely to develop cancer. This was reported in a recent edition of DiabetesInControl.com, a leading online news and information source provided primarily for medical professionals. The particular article can be found at Diabetes and Cancer.
Epidemiologist Dr. Chaoyang Li, from the CDC, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, states, “The significant association between cancer and diabetes does not surprise us.”
Nine percent of U.S. adults have diabetes according to the CDC and after taking into account such things as race, age, drinking and smoking habits, the researchers came to the conclusion that diabetic men and women were 10 percent more likely to have had a cancer diagnosis of some kind.
Regarding other studies, it was also mentioned that from his own research, Dr. Fred Brancati, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, concluded that the risk of death from cancer is about 40 percent higher among people with diabetes than it is among people who do not have diabetes. Other research shows, says Dr. Brancati, that there are a significant number of American adults who have both diabetes and cancer and in reference to the published studies mentioned above, with which he was not involved, he states that “The authors rightly point out that these two conditions go together beyond chance alone, so it pays to think about them together.”
[Publisher's note: To keep things in perspective, according to my own understanding as a diabetic person, 40% greater than an existing risk is NOT mean a 40% greater risk overall. Using simple arithmetic, just consider that if there were already an established amount of increased risk, for whatever reason, of 10% of having cancer for example, then a 40% increased risk due to diabetes and according to Dr. Brancatti's research would mean that risk could now be 10% + 40% of the original 10% and that equals 10 + 4 = 14%. Still too high of course but the figure of 10% was just used for easy calculation and is not reality.]
There is much to be learned. Other researchers have said that it is still not clear why diabetes is connected to cancer. There is no proof or otherwise, but the risk for cancer may increase because of the existence of high levels of blood sugars or excess levels of insulin in the blood. Insulin is a hormone that is normally produced by the body’s pancreas and is essential in its role of conducting blood sugars into cells of the body where it is used to fuel the many biochemical processes of life.
Diabetes cannot be cured but it can be prevented by taking appropriate steps to control blood sugar levels before they become consistently above normal. The way to do so is through dietary and lifestyle modification where the objective is to reach a healthy weight and maintain it at that level. And don’t smoke!
In most cases, both prevention and control require the same approach of a change in lifestyle and the adoption of healthy diet that automatically results in weight loss. That means an adjustment in eating habits, not eating less but eating less of the wrong types of foods — and those are often the high-carbohydrate and highly saturated foods such as cheeseburgers, french fries, and sugary beverages.
And to that, add a daily measure of exercise, something as simple as walking for 30 minutes or maybe the equivalent energy expenditure in bicycling, swimming, or other similar activity.
For a more detailed discussion on diabetes and its prevention, please see Prevention Is the Real Answer, published on this website. Also it could be of interest to check out Stop Diabetes Once and for All, also published earlier on this site.
In conclusion
Given the findings that there is an elevated risk for cancer associated with high blood sugar levels and perhaps insulin levels, people with diabetes should maybe consider discussing the matter with their doctors. That raises the question of whether it might be appropriate to screen for the possibilities of cancers in diabetic patients.
It appears that there may also be a similar increased risk of diabetics to develop Parkinson’s disease, if I can locate details I will cover that in the next submission to this website.
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