The study set out to examine death from all causes and from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a particular aboriginal group living in a relatively remote region in the Northern Territory, Australia.
The study involved 296 people aged 15 years or older who were initially screened in 1995; hospital and primary health care records and death certificates were then reviewed for the period up to December 2004.
The 10-year health study of the region found that the aboriginal community of Utopia appeared to have a far better health record when it came to hospitalisation and CVD and this was because the group had good primary health care services over which they had a degree of control.
However more importantly the community were still hunters and gatherers which ensured a good diet and plenty of healthy physical activity.
The study found that the community-controlled health care along with a traditional lifestyle led to the lower than usual mortality rates in the Utopia area.
Professor Ian Anderson from the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health says self-determination is a fundamental determinant of good health and leads to improved health conditions.
Dr. Kevin Rowley from the University of Melbourne says the study shows that the key to success is working with communities to identify their aspirations.
Utopia is made up of 16 communities who live in the desert north-east of Alice Springs, the community-controlled Urapuntja Health Service has a weekly roster for doctors who check on Aborigines as they live in the main a traditional lifestyle.
The community also benefited limited access to alcohol as well as social factors, including connectedness to culture, family and land, and opportunities for self-determination.
The study was a collaborative effort involving the Menzies Research Centre in Alice Springs, Melbourne University and the Urapuntja Health Centre and is published in the current issue of the Medical Journal of Australia.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, Americans were eating an average of 36 ounces of red meat every week in 2006, Scroggs said. Scroggs recommends serving about three ounces (about the size of a deck of cards) of cooked red meat at meals. If you follow this recommended serving size, you can include red meat in as many as six meals of your weekly diet.
AICR also recommends eating very little processed meat (meat preserved by smoking, curing, salting or adding chemical preservatives), such as ham, bacon, hot dogs, sausages, pastrami and salami. Every ounce and a half of processed meat eaten a day is thought to increase a person's risks of developing colorectal cancer by 21 percent.
It's a good idea to avoid eating processed meats as much as possible, Scroggs said. Save that hot dog for special occasions, such as a family cookout or the ballpark.
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer found in men and women in this country. The American Cancer Society estimates almost 150,000 new cases of colorectal cancer in the United States for 2008. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among Americans but is considered a highly preventable disease.
For more information on colorectal cancer prevention strategies, visit mdanderson/cancerawareness.
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