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Diabetics Just Got a Lot More to Worry About

People with diabetes also have a higher risk for cancer too.

Almost 13 percent of the 26 million Americans that have diabetes are Black. By now most people know that diabetes can lead to heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, blindness, or amputation. But did you know that people with diabetes also have a higher risk for cancer too?

 

Chaoyang Li , the study’s author, told Reuters Health that they’re not sure what the connection is between diabetes and cancer but there’s not doubt that the two are linked. Chaoyang suspects, however, that it could have to do with high blood sugar levels or excess blood insulin -- a hormone that helps bring sugar to the cells, but it hasn’t been proven yet.

 

The research was based on telephone surveys of almost 400,000 adults and found that 16 of every 100 diabetic men as well as 17 of every 100 diabetic women reported that they had cancer. Compared to women and men who don’t have diabetes the rate for cancer is seven out of every 100 men and 10 out of 100 women, a striking contrast.

 

The study took age, race, drinking and smoking habits into account and found that diabetic men and women were still 10 percent more likely to be diagnosed with cancer than anything else. The researchers also concluded that diabetic men were also more likely to get cancer of the colon, pancreas, rectum, urinary bladder, kidney or prostate. Diabetic women were more likely to develop breast cancer, leukemia or uterine cancer.

(Photo: REUTERS/Larry Downing /Landov)

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