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An Ongoing Saga

John A. Baron, MD

JAMA. 2005;294:2904-2906.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Dietary fiber has had a long and complicated relationship with colorectal cancer. The idea that intake of fiber might protect against this malignancy dates back at least to the late 1960s, when Burkitt¹ proposed that the low rates of colorectal cancer he observed in southern Africa (as well as the low rates of appendicitis, diverticular disease, and colorectal adenomas) were related to high-fiber intake. Subsequently, hemorrhoids, constipation, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes have been added to the list of problems that may be prevented by dietary fiber intake.

Of these disorders and diseases, colorectal cancer arguably has the most confusing association with fiber. Animal studies have variably suggested that fiber has reduced risks, increased risks, or had no effect on experimental bowel cancer.² Epidemiological studies have found intake of dietary fiber to be either protective, to have no effect,^3-6 or even rarely to confer an . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Author Affiliation: Dartmouth Medical School, Lenanon, NH.

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