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Relationship between diabetes and cancer

2018.06.01

It is well known that diabetes is a disease that has scary complications.

At first there is neither pain nor itchiness, nor any individual symptoms. Many people often dismiss it as “well, it’s okay” because there are many cases in which several years pass in this state.
However, as diabetes continues to maintain a high blood sugar level, the blood vessels will age and immunity decline will progress unaware.
As a result, it leads to various diseases.
Among them, there are three major complications: diabetic retinopathy, diabetic nephropathy, and diabetic neuropathy. Neuropathy (shi) and retinopathy (me) and nephropathy (ji), sometimes called “shimeji”.
If retinopathy or nephropathy becomes more acute, it may cause blindness and the need for dialysis. And, when the nervous disorder becomes severe and sensation in the foot weakens, if you don’t notice that a wound occurs and if you ignore it, gangrene results from the decrease of blood flow of the foot and weakening of immunity, and there may be a case when you suffer a cut to your leg… it’s a scary complication that none of you should ignore.

People with diabetes tend to have liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, colon cancer

However, these complications are well known as “diseases arising from diabetes”.
On the other hand, what isn’t well-known is the relationship with cancer.
In fact, it’s becoming obvious that diabetes can easily lead to cancer.

It’s a bit dated, but according to the 2013 report published by the “Committee on Diabetes and Cancer” which was jointly conducted by the Japan Diabetes Association and the Japanese Cancer Society, they observed about 160,000 Japanese males and 180,000 Japanese females for an average of 10 years.  It seems that many people with diabetes develop cancer over 1.2 times as often as those without diabetes.
By type of cancer, colon cancer developed 1.4 times, liver cancer 1.97 times, and pancreatic cancer 1.85 times as often as patients without diabetes.

It was pointed out that hyperinsulinemia caused by insulin resistance and a hyperglycemic condition may be conducive to cancer progression as far as why cancer increases with diabetes.

Preventing both diabetes and cancer

In response to this, the Joint Committee of the Japan Diabetes Association and the Japanese Cancer Society concluded the following recommendations.

Diabetes (mainly type 2 diabetes) is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer, liver cancer, and pancreatic cancer in Japan.
· Healthy diet, exercise, weight control, smoking cessation, and less alcohol may lead to prevention of type 2 diabetes and cancer
· People with diabetes are advised to seek appropriate, science-based cancer screenings according to gender and age
· There is no definite conclusion at the moment regarding the relationship between specific diabetes remedies and cancer. It is important to maintain good glycemic control according to the doctor’s instructions.
In other words, you should not ignore diabetes alone without individual symptoms.
To those who are indicated as having a high blood glucose level or HbA1c (hemoglobin A-one) by medical examination, please take it as a good opportunity to seek medical attention as well as reviewing their lifestyle, and be aware of meals and exercise.

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