Adults who survived childhood cancer could double their risk of developing metabolic syndrome and related health issues by failing to follow a heart-healthy lifestyle.
About 32 percent of 1,598 adult childhood cancer survivors who participated in the study had metabolic syndrome, St. Jude Research Hospital reported. The findings were published in the current issue of the journal Cancer.
Metabolic syndrome is an umbrella term for symptoms such as "high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, elevated triglyceride and other abnormalities." Cancer survivors who did not adopt healthy lifestyle habits such as regular exercise and a heart-healthy diet were more likely to develop these symptoms. The risk was found to be 2.4 times higher in women and 2.2 times greater in men.
To make their findings researchers looked at people between the ages of 18 and 60 who had survived their cancer and were at least 10 years away from it. The team found 27 percent of the participants met at least four of the requirements for a healthy lifestyle as defined by the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research. These guidelines include" "maintaining a healthy weight, moderate intake of alcohol and red meat, being physically active and eating a diet low in sodium and high in complex carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables." About 90 percent of the participants admitted to eating too much red meat and 70 percent too much sodium.
"This is good news for the nation's growing population of adult survivors of childhood cancer," said corresponding author Kirsten Ness, Ph.D., an associate member of the St. Jude Department of Epidemiology and Cancer Control. "This suggests that if you maintain a healthy lifestyle by staying active and eating a diet that is low in fat, sugar and salt and rich in fruit and vegetables you should be able to influence whether or not you develop metabolic syndrome."
Childhood survival rates are now at 80 percent and there are over 360,000 survivors in the United States.
