Calcium linked to less cancer risk

BETHESDA, Md., Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Higher levels of calcium are linked to less cancer risk for women overall and lower colorectal cancer risk for men and women, U.S. researchers said.

Yikyung Park of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., and colleagues analyzed data from 293,907 men and 198,903 women who participated in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study.

Participants took a food frequency questionnaire when they enrolled in the study in 1995 to 1996, reporting how much and how often they consumed dairy and other foods. Their records were linked with state cancer registries to identify new cases of cancer through 2003.

The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that after an average of seven years of follow-up, 36,965 cancer cases were identified in men and 16,605 in women.

"In both men and women, dairy food and calcium intakes were inversely associated with cancers of the digestive system," the study authors said in a study.

The one-fifth of men who consumed the most calcium through food and supplements -- about 1,530 milligrams per day -- had a 16 percent lower risk of these types of cancer than the one-fifth who consumed the least, 526 milligrams per day. For women, those in the top one-fifth of calcium consumption -- 1,881 milligrams per day -- had a 23 percent lower risk than those in the bottom one-fifth -- 494 milligrams per day.