Should we turn vegetarian?

A British study finds a benevolent link between vegetarian diet and cancer. We investigate the report.

Source: The Straits Times, 2/7/9, p.A21
Headline: Vegetarians less likely to get cancer

Quote1
LONDON: Vegetarians are 12 percent less likely to develop cancer than meat eaters and the advantage is particularly marked when it comes to cancers of the blood, British researchers said yesterday. ...

Comment1
This is the news point. Now let's look at the details -- before deciding if we want to suddenly turn vegetarian.

Quote2
The new study, entitled Cancer Incidence in British Vegetarians, involved more than 60,000 people and it confirmed a lower risk of both stomach and bladder cancer for vegetarians, Reuters reported. ...

Comment2
The study is limited to British vegetarians. It may not apply elsewhere. It has a large sample of 60,000, which increases its generalizability over the population of British vegetarians.

Quote3
The most striking and surprising difference was in cancers of the blood ... where the risk of disease was 45 percent lower in vegetarians than in meat eaters. ...

Comment3
The drop is greatest in blood cancers.

Quote4
The ...effect ... did not seem to stretch to bowel cancer. ... And the study found that the incidence of cervix cancer was two times higher in vegetarians than in meat eaters.

Comment4
Bowel cancer is unaffected; and it's worse for cervix cancer.

Quote5
Prof Key and his co-authors, from universities in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, followed 61,566 meat eaters and vegetarians for over 12 years, during which 3,350 of the participants were diagnosed with cancer.

Comment5
Of 61,566 persons, 3,350 developed cancer. This is an incidence rate of 5.44 percent -- or one in 18.4 chance, regardless of diet.

Quote6
"At the moment, these findings are not strong enough to ask for particularly large changes in the diets of people following an average balanced diet," Prof Key was quoted as saying by the BBC.

Comment6
Well, here's the bottom line: No need to rush into vegetarian mode -- if you're British.

END