Sure, blood sugar levels higher than they ought to be can get your attention! And for good reason. At first, you might think diabetes, right? But hold on a sec! Recent research points to a risk that could sneak up on you — something entirely different and equally concerning: colorectal cancer, especially if you’re a woman who’s made it past the big menopause milestone.
The medical movers and shakers over at Yeshiva University’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine have been scratching their heads over this one. Here’s the deal they uncovered: ladies experiencing their golden years with a little too much sugar coursing through their veins might be rolling out the red carpet for colon or rectal cancer. Yikes!
Now, the medical world’s been hip to how obesity can coax blood insulin levels to rise, which then buddies up with colorectal cancer. It seemed to make perfect sense until now. Turns out, even if your insulin levels are cool as a cucumber, that high blood sugar’s still up to no good.
“But how?” you might wonder. Geoffrey Kabat, Ph.D., and lead researcher in this study, throws this possibility into the ring: sugar-high blood could be the party bus for growth factors and gnarly inflammatory bits that are the life of the party for pesky intestinal polyps. Some of these troublemakers have an ugly habit of turning cancerous.
The crux of the matter? It’s time for the brains of the operation to pin down exactly which of those blood-borne gate crashers are to blame for cancer’s invite. And let’s face it, this isn’t some rare thing. A staggering 142,670 US folks heard “you’ve got colorectal cancer” back in 2007, nearly 70,000 of them women.
Take this to heart: keeping blood sugar under control isn’t just about dodging diabetes. It’s also about slamming the door on colorectal cancer’s face. It’s a two-birds-one-stone kind of deal when you think about it.
So, what’s next? For starters, those at risk need a game plan. Also, we all could do with a gentle reminder: everything’s connected. Your body doesn’t clock out on the whole teamwork thing. If blood sugar’s on the fritz, it’s not just about insulin — there’s more to the story. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to the bottom of this. Because, let’s face it, nobody wants to be the belle of the ball for cancer of any kind.
