Large Study Found a Strange Link Between Eating Fish And Skin Cancer

3 billion people rely on fish for food Mediterranean and Nordic recommend a high amount of fish in their diet.

New research shows that too much good fish can be a bad thing.

A large, long-term study of almost 500,000 people found that people who eat more fish than half a can of tuna a day are more likely to get melanoma.

The risk of developing melanoma is one in 38 for White people, one in 1,000 for Black people, and one in 167 for Hispanic people.

This doesn't mean that we shouldn't eat fish. The study shows that there is a trend, not an underlying cause, which means that there is no proof that eating more fish increases your risk of skin cancer. Even if there is a direct link, the benefits of eating fish are still outweighing the negatives.

There is a strong link within a large sample size that makes sense in the current environment.

"Although the results are from a cohort study, which means they are observational and hence do not imply causality, they can't be ignored," says University ofNewcastle dietitian, who was not involved in the study. There is a need to consider the role of contaminants in some fish.

It's well known that toxins in our environment can cause cancer by building up through the food chain.

Industrial processes such as burning coal lead to Mercury entering our waterways where it is broken down byMicrobes.

This is taken up by plankton and ends up accumulating in the tissues of the shrimp that eat those plankton, then the fish that eat the shrimp, and so on. The term biomagnification is used.

Cho theorizes that the findings could be related to pollutants in fish like polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, arsenic, and mercury.

Higher fish intake is associated with higher levels of these contaminants within the body and has been found to have a higher risk of skin cancer.

The data from the USANIH- AARP Diet and Health Study was used by the researchers. The risk of melanoma was 22 percent higher in people who ate 43 grams of fish a day compared to people who ate 3 grams a day.

The link was linear, meaning the amount of tuna consumed increased the cancer incidence, and it was consistent across several demographic and lifestyle factors after also considering other risks like mole count, hair color, history of severe sunburn, and sun- related behaviors.

The intake of fish was only calculated at the beginning of the study, so it's possible that this may have changed over time.

There are many causes of skin cancer.

Matthew Browne, CEO of Melanoma Institute Australia warned that the prevention message should not be confused or clouded. Sun exposure is the main risk factor for melanoma.

The potential cause of skin cancer shouldn't be neglected as levels of these contaminants increase due to intensifying land use and even climate change.

The study was published in cancer causes and control.