Large families have a lower risk of cancer

Protective coexistence: less cancer risk in larger families

A new study has shown that large families have a lower risk of cancer. According to the researchers, the family size reduces the risk not only for women, but also for men. The positive effect is probably also due to the fact that the family members support each other in a healthy lifestyle.

It's not just partnerships that have a positive impact on your health

Previous scientific research has shown that having a partnership can also be beneficial to your health. Among other things, this is justified by the fact that the partners support each other in a healthy lifestyle. Apparently, this effect is even stronger when the couple has children. Because in a new study, researchers from Switzerland and Australia now found that the size of a family has an influence on the risk of cancer.

Researchers from Switzerland and Australia have found that large families have a lower risk of cancer. (Image: Kzenon / fotolia.com)

Support each other in a healthy lifestyle

Last year, US scientists reported that living together in a marriage improves health.

And British researchers have found in an older study that many people live healthier lives thanks to their partners, partly because they give up unhealthy behaviors.

Other research has shown that women are more likely to promote men's health as they are more concerned about healthy eating, less smoking and less likely to drink alcohol.

A new study also provides clues as to how effective it can be for family members to support each other in a healthy lifestyle. Because this obviously reduces the risk of cancer.

Incidence of various cancers is increasing

Researchers from the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich (UZH) and the Australian Adelaide Medical School have found in a recent study in the journal "BMC Cancer" study that large families have a lower risk of cancer.

According to the scientists, family size reduces the risk not only for women but also for men.

To get their results, the experts evaluated data from 178 countries.

According to a UZH statement, the smaller the families, the higher the frequency of various cancers around the world.

"And this effect is independent of income, degree of urbanization and age," explains Maciej Henneberg, academic guest at the UZH and last author of the study.

Size of the entire household of importance

The researchers led by Prof. Frank Rühli have now discovered that not only the size of the nuclear family - parents and children - but also the size of the household, including the members of the extended family, has a protective effect against cancer.

For example, family size correlates with the number of children giving birth to a mother during her life and her household size with the incidence of all cancers. This is independent of the age of the persons.

The larger the size of a family, the less common are certain cancers such as brain tumor, bladder, lung, stomach, skin, breast, colon, ovarian and uterine cancer. The protective effect of family size is stronger for men than women.

So far, it has been known that cancers in women, such as breast or ovarian cancer, depend on the number of pregnancies.

The more pregnancies a woman has, the lower the risk of getting ovarian or breast cancer. Surprising in the current study is that family size protects men even better than women.

Protective family life

The fact that the cancer risk in men depends on the fertility of their partners and the size of the household is amazing, but according to the researchers explainable.

Thus, family life, while stressful in some respects, creates a special emotional environment that can be beneficial to overall disease resistance and, indeed, cancer.

As stated in the statement of the Swiss university, people have adapted to living in traditional families with parents and children for around four million years.

Joint education by father and mother is, according to the scientists, one of the first specific human characteristics that has developed.

Now show that family members who support each other in a healthy lifestyle, also protect against cancer. (Ad)