Slowly but surely, the medical community is accepting that nutrition and gender can play an important role in disease processes. Following this trend, a researcher at Texas Tech Health Sciences Center has co-authored a book, Nutrition and Women's Cancers, that examines the roles which gender and nutrition play in cancer processes in women.
Dr Barbara Pence, associate vice president for research at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, has studied dietary effects on disease processes for nearly two decades and is co-author of the book. The book was written in collaboration with Dr. Dale Dunn, chairman of the Department of Pathology at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
The major conclusion from her book is that diet and nutrition interact with hormones to influence women's cancer.
"Nutrition is something that has been somewhat neglected in American medical education and I think it's because nutrition is something everybody thinks they know about, because everybody eats," said Pence.
"The female metabolism creates a different set of physical responses," Pence added. "There are gender differences, and it is thought that estrogen production may influence these differences."
The book analyzes all the epidemiology literature for women's cancers (including breast, lung and colorectal cancer), an analysis of the diet and the cancer studies that have been published over the past 20 years.
"One of the most overwhelming things that came out about most cancers in women is that we cannot ignore the unique hormonal milieu that women have," Pence noted.
For more information, please contact the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Office of News and Publications at (806) 743-2143. Contact e-mail: [email protected]
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Dr. Barbara Pence is available for interviews or for comments. Her telephone number is (806) 743-2153.
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