Higher Intake of Fruits and Vegetables Reduces Bladder Cancer Risk in Women

The incidence of bladder cancer in men and women increases with age.  And this cancer is much more deadly in women than in men. Catching the symptoms early is the best way to detect and tackle bladder cancer. But a latest study has discovered a natural remedy through which women can lower the risk of bladder cancer. The study recommends higher consumption of fruits and vegetables to reduce bladder cancer risk in women.

Researchers at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center state fruits and vegetable have the capacity to reduce the risk of invasive bladder cancer in women.

The study was led by researcher Song-Yi Park, PhD, along with her colleagues.

Bladder cancer occurs due to the uncontrolled growth of cells that line the bladder wall. Men and women above age 50-years are generally affected with this disease. This is a common cancer among Americans and the second most common urological cancer in adults. In the year 2012, nearly 74,000 people were diagnosed with this cancer and close to 15,000 people died of it. The top leading causes of bladder cancer are cigarette smoking and chemical exposure.

Click here to study more about bladder cancer.

To verify the link between intake of fruits and vegetables and lower risk of bladder cancer, researchers examined 185,885 older adults over a period of 12.5 years who participated in the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) Study. The group that consisted of both men and women of ages 45-47 years was formed between 1993 and1996. The participants had filled in a questionnaire that enquired about their eating habits.

The Dailyrx states that the researchers followed the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) registries of California and Hawaii through 2007, to verify the number of bladder cancer patients among the cohort group.

They determined a total of 581 invasive bladder cancer cases in which 152 women and 429 men were diagnosed.

The researchers adjusted certain factors related to cancer risk and noticed that women who consumed more fruits and vegetables had lower risk of bladder cancer. It was noticed that women whose intake of yellow and orange vegetables was high, reduced their risk of bladder cancer by 52 percent compared to women who consumed lesser yellow-orange vegetables.

Apart from this, the researchers also noticed that women who had a higher intake of Vitamin A,C and E, had lower risk  of bladder cancer.

Unfortunately the researchers didn't trace any association between fruit and vegetable intake and bladder cancer in men.

"Our study supports the fruit and vegetable recommendation for cancer prevention," said Park. "However, further investigation is needed to understand and explain why the reduced cancer risk with higher consumption of fruits and vegetables was confined to only women."

The study was published in the journal Nutrition.