News Release
Friday, December 3, 2004
Contact: Jeanne Stuart McVey, 202-686-2210, ext. 316, or 415-509-1833
(cell); jeannem@pcrm.org
Two
New Studies Sour Milk's Image
One Study Confirms Link with Ovarian Cancer;
Second Disproves Dairy-Weight Loss Claims
Washington, D.C.—Two
recent studies are souring milk's image among health authorities.
One, published in the November issue of the American Journal
of Clinical Nutrition, shows that women who consume two or
more glasses of milk a day have twice the risk of a certain form
of ovarian cancer than those who rarely or never consume milk.
Headed by Susanna Larsson
at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, researchers conducted a prospective
study
of more than 60,000 women and concluded that "intakes of lactose
and dairy products, particularly milk, were significantly associated
with the risk of serous ovarian cancer." (Serous epithelial cancer
is the most common type of ovarian cancer.)
The second study, presented
last month at the North American Association for the Study of Obesity
Conference, shows that high dairy consumption does not help dieters
lose weight, refuting the findings of an earlier and smaller study
that the dairy industry has aggressively publicized through major
advertising campaigns, including a prominent one featuring talk
show host Dr. Phil. The new study was conducted by Jean Harvey-Berino,
Ph.D., a professor at the University of Vermont.
The original study-which
had seemed to suggest that dairy products might help weight loss-had
only 11 participants in the dairy group, and required a 500-calorie
per day diet deficit. Its findings do not appear to hold, in light
of the new study which used a similar method in a larger sample.
"Milk's biological purpose
is to promote rapid growth in infant cows," says Amy Joy Lanou,
Ph.D. "It makes biological sense that its nutrients and hormonal
effects might also promote the growth of cancer cells."
As to the Harvey-Berino study,
Dr. Lanou says, "It reminds us that the dairy industry's health
claims are often based on thin scientific evidence." Dr. Lanou's
letter challenging the dairy industry's weight-loss claims is scheduled
for publication in the January issue of Obesity Research.
The Swedish study is one
of several published in the past few years suggesting a link between
dairy consumption and ovarian cancer. The Iowa
Women's Health Study of more than 29,000 postmenopausal women
showed that the highest consumers of lactose (milk sugar) had a
60 percent increased risk of ovarian cancer as compared to those
who consumed the least lactose.
In Harvard's
Nurses' Health Study, each daily glass of low-fat or skim milk
was associated with a 20 percent increase in serous ovarian cancers.
Researchers hypothesize that galactose, a component of the milk
sugar lactose, may damage ovarian cells, making them more susceptible
to cancer.
To interview Dr. Amy Lanou,
please contact Jeanne Stuart McVey at 202-686-2210, ext. 316, or
or 415-509-1833 (cell), or jeannem@pcrm.org.
Founded in 1985, the
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a nonprofit health
organization that promotes preventive medicine, especially good
nutrition. PCRM also conducts clinical research studies, opposes
unethical human experimentation, and promotes alternatives to animal
research. PCRM has long worked to educate the public about the health
problems associated with dairy consumption.
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