The study included 1,240 hospital patients undergoing routine colonoscopy. Three-hundred thirty-eight patients were diagnosed with precancerous polyps, none of whom were previously diagnosed with cancer or polyps. These patients, on average, received less than six hours of sleep. The main contributors to lack of sleep were self-reported sleep apnea and shift work.
Li Li, MD, a family medicine physician at University Hospitals and the study’s lead researcher, said the findings are not all that surprising. “Within the last five years, sleep disturbance has [received] national attention in terms of its relationship to disease,” he said. “When it comes down to colon cancer, it is comparable to other known risk factors for other cancers [such as breast cancer].”
Dr. Li said lack of sleep is a huge risk factor that ranks up there with high red meat consumption and having a family history of colon cancer.
Read the news report about lack of sleep and colorectal cancer.
Read other coverage about colorectal cancer:
– 5 USPSTF Recommendations for CRC Prevention and Screening
– Researchers Say Trained Labrador Can Detect Colon Cancer
– Study: Optical Colonoscopy More Effective Than CT Colonography
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