Calcium Does Your Colon Good Adding calcium to your diet may help
prevent tumors in the large intestine, report researchers from
the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and
other centers. The researchers looked at 832 people who had undergone surgery
for benign colorectal tumors. About half of the subjects were
given calcium supplements and the other half placebos. Two to four years
later -- the main risk period for tumor recurrence -- 127 of the 409 people
taking calcium had developed tumors, compared with 159 of the 423
patients taking placebos. And the tumors in the placebo group were larger.
(Source: British Medical Journal, January 1999)
Colorectal cancer is the
second leading cause of death from cancer in the United States. The American
Cancer Society recommends that adults over 40 have an annual digital
rectal exam. Those over 50 should have a blood- stool test each year and a
sigmoidoscopy about every three to five years.
