Serious Mental Illness Tied to Higher Cancer, Injury Risk: Studies

HealthDay – Fri, Jul 20, 2012 FRIDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- People with serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have a 2.6 times increased risk of developing cancer, a new study contends.

The findings raise questions about whether people with serious mental illness receive appropriate cancer screenings and preventive care to help them avoid cancer risk factors such as smoking, the researchers said.

"The increased risk is definitely there, but we're not entirely sure why," study leader Dr. Gail Daumit, an associate professor of medicine and psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in a Hopkins news release. "Are these people getting screened? Are they being treated? Something's going on."

The researchers analyzed data from more than 3,300 Maryland Medicaid beneficiaries with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder to determine how many of them were diagnosed with cancer between 1994 and 2004.

Compared to people in the general population, schizophrenia patients were more than 4.5 times more likely to develop lung cancer, 3.5 times more likely to develop colorectal cancer, and nearly three times more likely to develop breast cancer, the researchers found.

Patients with bipolar disorder had similarly increased risk for the three types of cancer, according to the study published in the July issue of the journal Psychiatric Services.

People with serious mental illness are more likely to smoke, which could explain their elevated risk for lung cancer, Daumit said.

She also noted that women with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are less likely to have children and that childbearing is believed to reduce breast cancer risk. In addition, some drugs used to treat mental illness can increase levels of the hormone prolactin, a factor that has been linked to breast cancer.

The increased risk of colorectal cancer could be due to lifestyle issues such as smoking, lack of exercise and a diet lacking fruits and vegetables, Daumit said.

While the study uncovered a link between mental illness and cancer risk, it did not prove that one causes the other.

In a separate study released last month, Daumit found that people with serious mental illness were nearly twice as likely to require emergency or inpatient department treatment for an injury than people in the general population, and were about 4.5 times more likely to die from their injuries.

The study was published online in the journal Injury Prevention.

About 5 percent of Americans have a serious mental illness and these people are known to have a two to three times increased risk of dying prematurely, Daumit noted.

More information

The National Alliance on Mental Illness has more about mental illness.

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Beware of the Potato Salad: Preventing Foodborne Illness in Summer

HealthDay – 2 hrs 3 mins ago SATURDAY, July 21 (HealthDay News) -- Ever eye a bowl of potato salad or plate of chicken that's been sitting in the sun for hours and wonder if it's still OK to eat?

Warm weather means that bacteria in food can multiply faster and potentially pose a health threat, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns.

The FDA offers the following safety advice to help prevent foodborne illnesses during barbecue and picnic season:

Wash your hands well and often with soap and water for 20 seconds, especially after using the bathroom and before cooking or eating. If there are no water taps available, use a water jug, some soap and paper towels or moist disposable towelettes.Keep raw food separate from cooked food. Do not place cooked food on a plate that previously held raw meat, poultry, seafood or anything else and hasn't been cleaned in hot, soapy water.Marinate food in the refrigerator, not on the counter. Don't reuse marinade that contained raw meat.Cook food thoroughly in order to kill any harmful bacteria that may be present. Use a food thermometer to make sure food has reached the recommended minimum temperature, which is 160 degrees F for hamburger and 165 degrees F for chicken. If you use the microwave, stove or oven to partially cook food to reduce grilling time, do so immediately before you place the food on the barbeque.Try to refrigerate or freeze leftovers immediately. Never leave food out for more than an hour when the temperature is above 90 degrees F.Keep hot foods at or above 140 degrees F and keep cold foods at or below 40 degrees F.

More information

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service has more about summer and foodborne illness.

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Cambodian deaths tied to common child illness

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Pollutants may contribute to illness and becoming overweight

ScienceDaily (June 26, 2012) — Lack of physical activity and poor diet alone cannot explain the dramatic rise in obesity and diabetes occurring in many countries, believe some researchers. It is time to face the possibility that hazardous chemicals may also share part of the blame.

See Also:Health & MedicineDiabetesCholesterolDiet and Weight LossEarth & ClimateEnvironmental ScienceAir QualityPollutionReferenceDiabetes mellitus type 2Saturated fatSouth Beach dietBlood sugar

The population of the Western world is increasingly falling prey to metabolic syndrome, which is the name for a group of risk factors -- such as overweight and insulin resistance -- that occur together and increase the risk for coronary artery disease, stroke, and type-2 diabetes.

What can explain this sharp upsurge in the incidence of metabolic syndrome? Both genetics and environmental factors such as diet and physical exercise play a part, but researchers are still missing some key pieces to the puzzle.

"Many studies now indicate that persistent organic pollutants play a major role," says Jerome Ruzzin, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Bergen.

From fatty foods

For several years, Dr Ruzzin has been receiving funding from the Research Council of Norway's Programme on Environmental Exposures and Health Outcomes (MILPAAHEL) to study the effects of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). He believes these substances have much more of a health impact than most people realize.

"Today's adults are the first generation to experience serious health problems from these substances. If we do not take this challenge seriously," he cautions, "there is every reason to be concerned about the coming generations as well."

POPs enter our bodies when we consume fatty foods such as dairy products, meat, and particularly fatty fish. One of Dr Ruzzin's research findings on mice is that eating salmon that contains high levels of POPs can lead to insulin resistance, one of the main causes of metabolic syndrome. Popping up everywhere

In two recent scientific articles, Dr Ruzzin has sounded the alarm about the harmful health effects of POPs.

"A great number of studies are now showing that people with high concentrations of POPs in their body are developing metabolic syndrome. We are talking about ordinary people who live in normal environments," stress Dr Ruzzin, "so this means that we are being exposed to far too high levels of POPs that may have a major impact on our health."

Typically, dietary changes are prescribed to treat metabolic syndrome. But according to Dr Ruzzin, too little is known about the effects of pollutants in specific foods to make any detailed health recommendations. This is why he believes we should waste no time in launching more studies that examine the combination of pollutants and nutrients in humans.

Dangerous cocktail effect

Studies have shown that POPs, even at concentrations below their danger level individually, can interact with other POPs or hazardous substances to cause serious consequences. This combined "cocktail effect" worries Dr Ruzzin.

"Current threshold values for pollutants are probably too high," says Dr Ruzzin, "which means that the regulatory framework needs changing. Food producers need to eliminate hazardous substances to a far greater extent than they do at present, and we consumers need more information about the kinds of chemicals we could be ingesting with their food products."

Deformed genitalia

Danish studies have shown that even small amounts of different chemicals found in everyday products can have a cocktail effect. Malformations of the sex organs are one possible consequence. Researcher Sofie Christiansen of the Technical University of Denmark is concerned.

"There is no doubt that the importance of interactions between different hormone-disrupting chemicals has been underestimated," she asserted in connection with a conference on environmentally hazardous substances co-hosted by the Research Council and the Norwegian Climate and Pollution Agency this January.

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WHO target to cut early chronic illness deaths

"An Indian nurse collects a blood sample from a patient using a glucometer at a diabetic health check up centre in Hyderabad. The World Health Organization has announced it is set to approve a new target to reduce premature deaths from chronic illnesses such as heart disease by a quarter by 2025. (AFP Photo/Noah Seelam)" title

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Mental Illness Tied to Higher Rates of Physical Problems: Report

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