Is There A Link Between #HeartDisease and #Cancer?

Heart disease and cancer are the #1 and #2 top causes of death in the US. Efforts to assess the risk of developing either of these life-threatening diseases are often done separately and independently. Intuitively, that makes sense. Each is a complicated disease in its own right and needs close attention. Also, there doesn't seem to be a clear biological connection between heart disease and cancer. However, it has always been illogical to me to focus on one over the other. Yes, the C-word imparts more fear than a heart attack, but medicine needs a more holistic approach that has been sorely lacking. What's the point in preventing someone from developing one only to have them die from the other. In addition, risk assessments should be expanded beyond just heart disease and cancer. For example, stroke is often an indicator of heart disease and type 2 diabetes and obesity are causal factors, so no heart disease risk assessment can justifiably leave any of them out.

Based on a new study that looked at the link between heart disease and cancer, keeping them separate may no longer be a practical or acceptable approach. To better understand the connection between heart disease and cancer, two researchers at New York University and their colleagues studied mice with breast cancer and artificially gave these mice a heart attack. The cancer in the mice with the heart attack grew much faster than those who did not have one. In a separate analysis, they also found in humans that patients with cancer and heart disease had a 60% greater likelihood of cancer recurrence than those with cancer alone. The researchers identified the immune system as the culprit linking heart disease and cancer. Heart disease apparently weakens the immune system and allows cancer unchecked to grow faster and wreak even more damage.

This study both surprised me and allowed me to take a deep sigh. As a long time proponent of combining heart disease and cancer assessment, Soap Health's decision to combine risk assessment for both heart disease, cancer, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and obesity was the right decision although it added new levels of complexities and delays to our product rollout. That decision is now is validated by this eye-opening study. At #SoapHealth, we are committed to doing well by doing good and we will sleep better at night knowing that we are providing a more comprehensive and holistic approach to risk assessment. With possibly 30% of cancers, 32% of heart disease, 40-70% of type 2 diabetes, and 52% of obesity being genetically linked, our solution comes not a minute too soon. Over 100 million Americans are at risk.

We are now allowing users to engage with VALIDATE on an invite-only basis. If you would like to be a tester and possibly identify your own risks and that of loved ones, please contact me at [email protected] for an invite. It may just save your life.