Increased Consumption of Milk Linked to Risk of Prostate Cancer

Who would have believed that consuming a lot of milk can increase the risk of developing prostate cancer? But that is exactly what a recent study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology has found out. According to Dr. Johanna Torfadottir, a nutrition scientist from the University of Iceland and the lead author of the study, Icelanders who have a history of drinking a lot of milk while they were teenagers, are three times more likely to develop advanced prostate cancer compared to those who drank milk in moderate quantities.

The study was carried out on a population based cohort of individuals born in between 1907 and 1935. The participants were followed up in 2009 for diagnosis of prostate cancer. From this group, a subgroup of 2,268 participants was enquired about their milk consumption habits in various stages of their life. Among the participants,1,123 men subsequently developed prostate cancer, out of which, 371 were diagnosed with an advanced stage of prostate cancer. Among those participants who did not drink milk daily, less than one percent were diagnosed with prostate cancer. Compared to this, men who drank milk daily during their adolescent years were 3.2 times more likely to be diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer.

The findings suggest that increased consumption of milk during adolescence can increase the risk of developing advanced prostate cancer. However, this is the first study of its kind and the researchers have stressed the fact that causal inferences should not be drawn on the basis of one study alone. Moreover, the study does not through any light on the mechanism by which milk consumption can lead to advanced prostate cancer. As per other doctors, milk consumption during adolescence offers many benefits. Therefore, results of one study should not be the basis of discouraging teenagers from drinking milk. Further studies are needed in this field to confirm the results.

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