Milk boosts prostate cancer risk and death risk from the disease

A study published in the Jan 2013 issue of the Journal of Nutrition suggests that drinking milk incr…

A study published in the Jan 2013 issue of the Journal of Nutrition suggests that drinking milk increases risk of prostate cancer and the risk of death from the
disease.

Jing Ma from Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, MA and colleagues found men who drank whole milk were up to 48 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer and patients with the disease were twice as likely to die from the disease.

High milk intake has been associated with greater risk of prostate cancer in previous studies. T he current study was intended to reveal how different types of milk would affect the risk of developing fatal prostate cancer.

For the study, the researchers analyzed data from a cohort study in the physicians' Health Study of 21,660 physicians in which 2806 prostate cancer patients and 305 deaths were identified during a 28-year followup.

Milk intake at baseline was considered.

It was found that the intake of total dairy products was associated with 12% increased prostate cancer incidence among those drinking greater than 2.5 servings per day, compared with those drinking 0.5 servings or less per day.

Skim/low-fat milk consumption was found positively correlated with risk of developing low-grade, early