by Bob White
In a recent issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, a study conducted at the Harvard University School of Public Medicine, headed by Dr. Dominique Michaud, provides a statistical analysis of 47,909 males over 10 years. The study's objective was to demonstrate whether the consumption of water and other fluids had an effect on the risk of bladder cancer. The study's significance lies in the large numbers of the population analyzed and the length of the period covered.
A total of 252 diagnoses of bladder cancer were found during the period under study. After statistically adjusting the data for known and suspected risks of cancer in the population, it was found that persons with a daily fluid intake (including water) of greater than 2,500 ml per day had a risk factor of about one-half those whose fluid intake was less than 1,300 ml per day. The consumption of water, in itself, showed a somewhat lower risk still, for persons consuming six cups of water per day as opposed to those with a consumption rate of one cup or less per day. This compares with the experience of persons consuming fluids other than water, who had only a one-third less risk associated with consumption of more than 1,830 ml compared with persons consuming less than 735 ml per day.
It is felt that increases in total fluid intake reduce contact time between carcinogens and the urothelium (the cells forming the coating of the urinary tract), by diluting urinary metabolites and increasing the frequency of urination.
The conclusion of Dr Michaud's study group was that "a high fluid intake is associated with a decreased risk of bladder cancer in men." So science has at last demonstrated the validity of what physicians have been preaching for decades; drink lots of fluids if you want to keep problems with your waterworks to a minimum.
