By: Jean Johnson for Reflux1The rise of esophageal cancer in the United States has been meteoric – 450 percent over the past 25 years. Consequently, even though out of almost 1.5 million new cases of cancer found in 2004, only 15,000 were esophageal, researches are asking hard questions and coming up with controversial conclusions.
To findings that link rising rates of esophageal cancer to increased consumption of soda pop, Bart Simpson would most likely say ‘don’t have a cow, it makes sense since you pour the stuff down your throat!’ But when research from India was shared at the 2004 Digestive Disease Week conference in New Orleans, criticism from the soft drink industry was loud and clear.
Given the political climate in the United States, it’s perhaps not surprising that the study linking soft drinks and esophageal cancer came from abroad. In May 2004 researchers from India’s Tata Memorial Hospital, though, felt assured enough of their data to present a paper at the New Orleans conference. There, Dr. Mohandes Mallath pointed to a “highly significant correlation” between increases in esophageal cancer in white American males and the consumption of soft drinks.
Members of the research team reviewed U.S. Department of Agriculture data and found that while in 1946 Americans drank around 11 gallons of soda a year, by 2000 the rate had quadrupled to 49 gallons. The Indian team connected the dots between soft drink consumption trends and the huge rise in esophageal cancer in the United States over the past 25 years.
The vice president of scientific and technical affairs for the American Beverage Association, Dr. Richard Adamson, was on the forefront of criticism. Adamson said the study was highly flawed and speculative because it did not even determine whether the individuals who had the cancers were among the population that increased its soft drink consumption.
Dr. Mallath, however, countered that while the correlation could be coincidental, his team found similar statistics in a global comparison, and that esophageal cancers in general are rising in countries where people consume on the average of more than 20 gallons of carbonated drinks each year. Mallath also noted that because carbonation can distend the top part of the stomach it can be a predisposing condition for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a problem that can lead to cancer of the esophagus.
Dr. Phllip Jaffe, a gasteroenterologist and professor at University of Connecticut Health Center sided with Dr. Adamson on the fuzzy link between carbonated drinks and esophageal cancer saying the connection between the two trends is too tenuous to warrant a change in dietary habits. “If part of what makes life enjoyable for you is having a couple Diet Cokes, then go ahead,” Dr. Jaffe said. “Life is short and there are worse habits to have. You have to put everything in perspective.”
In a country that loves its carbonated beverages, that’s good news. Although those that don’t make a habit of popping the tab and swigging, might be more inclined to give the Indian study credence. “Since our mother never had pop around when we were kids in the 1950s and 1960s,” said Bill Bjornevald, “I never had had the habit of drinking it. Lemon water works for me, and any way you slice it, is probably easier on the system that fizzy sugar water.”
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