According to a new study, low-fat diets may keep breast cancer from returning to women that have already had it. Many experts disagree with the study’s results, though.
These experts believe that other factors need to be taken into consideration. The study which was funded by the National Cancer Institute, included 2 437 women.
1,462 of the women continued to eat their normal diets while 975 women were set up on less fatty diets by their doctors. Cancer returned to 9.8% of the women on the low-fat diets, while it returned to 12.4% of the women on their normal diets. News24.com explains:
The only women who benefited were those whose tumours were not helped to grow by oestrogen. These women had 42% lower risk of recurrence if they ate low-fat diets, but they accounted for just 1 out of 5 women in the entire study -similar to breast cancer cases in the general population.
Results for the other 4 out of 5 women in the study did not reach statistical significance, meaning they could have occurred by chance alone – a point the American Cancer Society noted in a statement posted on its Web site on Monday.
The women on the low-fat diet consumed around 33.3 grams of fat each day, and the women continuing with their normal diets consumed approximately 51.3 grams.
American Cancer Society doctor, Len Lichtenfeld, says that the results of this study don’t really mean that all breast cancer patients should be advised to follow a low-fat diet.
Chris is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest ebusiness news.
