Wise Monkey
3rd Apr 2006, 04:41
Found this really interesting article on the web, unfortunatly my father in law flew for Qantas for 39yrs and guess what.....prostate cancer?
The causes of prostate cancer are poorly understood. Melatonin may have a protective effect,2 (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=124549#B2) and disruptions to sleep-wake cycles may increase cancer risk by suppressing melatonin secretion. According to one hypothesis, melatonin would increase the risk of hormone related cancers, whereas other people believe that it would have a systemic antioxidant-like effect. According to this theory, flight personnel flying over many time zones might have an excess risk. The main hormone related cancer among men is prostate cancer. Among pilots in our study, the relative risk of prostate cancer increased with the number of long haul hours. We cannot fully exclude the possibility that jet lag would increase the risk of hormone related cancers. very interesting read http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=124549
The causes of prostate cancer are poorly understood. Melatonin may have a protective effect,2 (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=124549#B2) and disruptions to sleep-wake cycles may increase cancer risk by suppressing melatonin secretion. According to one hypothesis, melatonin would increase the risk of hormone related cancers, whereas other people believe that it would have a systemic antioxidant-like effect. According to this theory, flight personnel flying over many time zones might have an excess risk. The main hormone related cancer among men is prostate cancer. Among pilots in our study, the relative risk of prostate cancer increased with the number of long haul hours. We cannot fully exclude the possibility that jet lag would increase the risk of hormone related cancers. very interesting read http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=124549