Lactose Intolerants At Lower Risk Of Certain Cancers: Study.....

LONDON: People with lactose intolerance are at lower risk of suffering from lung, breast and ovarian cancers, according to a new study.

"We found that people with lactose intolerance, who typically consume low amounts of milk and other dairy products, have a reduced risk of lung, breast and ovarian cancers", said Jianguang Ji, Associate Professor at Lund University in Sweden.

"The risk of cancer was not reduced in relatives of people with lactose intolerance, which indicates that protection against these cancers is related to diet. However, it would be wrong to conclude that milk is a risk factor for these cancers," said Ji, also a researcher at the Centre for Primary Care Research in Malmo.

There are large differences in the incidence of breast and ovarian cancers between different countries.

Their incidence is highest in North America, Western Europe and the Nordic countries, and lowest in East Asia and Central African countries.

Studies of immigrants and twins suggest this worldwide variation is more down to environmental factors than to genetic or ethnic factors.

Lifestyle factors such as high consumption of milk and other dairy products have been suspected to contribute to the high incidence of breast and ovarian cancers in North America and Western Europe, researchers said.

"In order to investigate this unanswered question we adopted a novel approach," said Ji.