Study Links High Choline Intake in Women to Increased Risk of Colon Polyps

A new study suggests that women who eat food containing a lot of choline have an increased risk of developing colon polyps. Choline can be found in egg yokes, soy, wheat germ, and cooked beef, veal, chicken, and turkey livers. Colon polyps are a type of abnormal growth within the colon that can lead to cancer. This is the first study of its kind looking for a link between consumption of choline and colon polyps in women.

Choline is an organic compound. It is considered an essential nutrient by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine and is usually classified within the Vitamin B complex. It plays many vital roles in the body. It can be found in many foods and it is required by the Food and Drug Administration to be in infant formula. Some scientists believe that it can reduce the risk of heart disease and choline has subsequently made its way into nutritional supplements. It can also be found in supplements that claim to reduce body fat because of its role in lipid metabolism. However, no research supports the claim that choline can lead to a reduction in body fat.

Colon polyps are primarily a concern because they can develop into colon cancer. Colon polyps rarely produce any symptoms, therefore, they can go undetected for years. If symptoms do occur they include rectal bleeding, pain, diarrhea, and constipation. Polyps are usually not discovered until an individual undergoes cancer screening either through digital rectal exam, flexible sigmoidoscopy, barium enema, colonoscopy, or virtual colonoscopy. If a polyp is discovered, it is almost always removed, regardless of size.

The study was conducted by Eunyoung Cho, ScD, of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, and colleagues. The team reviewed data from the Nurses' Health Study. The Nurses' Health Study is a long-term study including more than 39,000 female U.S. nurses who enrolled in 1976. They were between the ages of thirty and fifty-five when they signed up. As part of the program, the volunteers completed dietary questionnaires and updated their medical records every two years. All of the nurses included in the study had either a colonoscopy or a sigmoidoscopy between the years of 1984 and 2002. The study found that those with a high intake of choline were 45% more likely to develop a colon polyp than those who had a low intake of choline.

The findings did not indicate a particular food, but rather, choline in general. The common dietary sources of choline among the nurses were red meat, eggs, poultry, and milk.

Doctors and researchers don't want women to be overly concerned by the results of the study. The study does not prove that choline causes polyps nor does it prove that avoiding choline prevents polyps. It is nearly impossible to prove cause and effect through an observational study such as this one. However, the result of the study indicates that more research needs to be done on the topic.

Source

WebMD Medical News

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=83091