Cancer Linked to Other Chronic Illnesses

April 2, 2010 -- Having a heart attack or chronic illness may raise the risk of
being diagnosed with cancer, according to a new survey.
Researchers found that people with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes were about twice as likely to have cancer as
healthy people without these chronic illnesses.
In addition, the survey found that people who had suffered a heart attack were nearly three times more likely to
have a cancer diagnosis than those who hadn't.
The survey was conducted as part of the Gallup Healthways Well-Being Index
and based on telephone interviews with more than 350,000 adults in the U.S.
conducted between Jan. 2- Dec. 30, 2008, and Jan. 2- Dec. 29, 2009. It has a
sampling error of no more than 1 percentage point.
The survey showed the relationship between a cancer diagnosis and the
following health conditions:
 




Health Condition




% Diagnosed With Cancer





High blood pressure


11.8




No high blood pressure


5.0




 


 




High cholesterol


11.7




No high cholesterol


5.3




 


 




Diabetes


12.7




No diabetes


6.4




 


 




Heart attack


18.1




No heart attack


6.5



 
The risk of developing any of these chronic illnesses increases with
advancing age, but researchers say the link between these illnesses and cancer
remained significant within every age bracket. The relationship between cancer
and some of the conditions, such as heart attack, were especially pronounced
under age 45.
Researchers point out that the results do not necessarily mean any of these
chronic illnesses cause cancer, but they do show that cancer and chronic
conditions share many risk factors and may be interrelated.
For example, smoking cigarettes is a risk factor for both heart
attack and lung cancer, and cholesterol itself is not a
cancer-causing substance but can enhance the effects of other carcinogens in
the body.
 




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http://www .webmd.com/cancer/news/20100402/cancer-linked-other-chronic-illnesses?src=RSS_PUBLIC