Soft Drinks Linked to Pancreatic Cancer

Amazing as it seems, a recent study showed that people who drink two or more sweetened soft drinks a week have a much higher risk of pancreatic cancer.

Mark Pereira of the University of Minnesota, who led a study of 60,000 people in Singapore, believes that the high level of sugar found in the soft drinks increased the level of insulin. The elevated level contributes to pancreatic cancer cell growth he explains in an article on MSBNC.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the more severe types of cancer with a five-year survival rate of only 5% according to the American Cancer Society.

One 12-ounce (355 ml) can of non-diet soda contains about 130 calories, almost all of them from sugar.

In the survey which followed 60,524 men and women in the Singapore Chinese Health Study for 14 years, 140 of the volunteers developed pancreatic cancer. Those who drank two or more soft drinks a week had an 87% higher risk of being among those who got pancreatic cancer.

The article points out that there is some disagreement about the study with regard to the small number of people who had the cancer and also the issue of other contributing factors.

However, it's clearly a warning bell.