Calcium Seems to Protect Against Colorectal Cancer
 (HealthDayNews, 6/15/04)

Dr. John A. Baron of Dartmouth Medical School, and colleagues, assigned 913 participants in the Calcium Polyp Prevention Study to take either a 1,200 mg calcium supplement or a placebo and then the researchers assessed the subjects' bowel health with a colonoscopy at one and four years later.  The group taking calcium had fewer polyps overall and the risk of developing advanced lesions, which are linked to colon cancer, was especially reduced.  The scientists theorize that calcium prevents polyp development by blocking the irritating effect of bile and other fats in the intestines.