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While obesity is often associated with a host of other health issues including high blood pressure, stroke and heart attack, a new study is examining how the condition is also related to cancer risk.
Researchers
from the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research
on Cancer (IARC) looked at more than 1,000 epidemiological studies and
found that "excess body fatness" is also linked to the risk of
developing gastric, liver, gallbladder, pancreatic, ovarian, thyroid,
blood (multiple myeloma) and brain (meningioma) cancers.
"I
think the main takeaway point is that your health and specifically your
body fatness is an important factor for many types of cancer," Dr.
Richard Lee, Medical Director of the Integrative and Supportive Oncology
Program at the University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, told ABC
News.
"Patients should
understand that they can decrease the risk for developing cancer and
improving overall survivorship," by keeping their weight below obesity
thresholds, he said. This information can help doctors advising patients
on cancer risk, he added.
Researchers in this study also attempted to quantify the risk for obese
people to develop this variety of cancers. They found obese people had
1.8 times the risk for developing liver cancer,
4.8 times as high for esophageal adenocarcinoma, and 7.1 times as high
for uterine cancer. They also confirmed that for some of these cancers,
as your weight goes up, so does the risk.
People may not always connect
being overweight to cancer risk in the manner they associate drinking or
smoking with increased risk of cancer, Lee noted.
"The
public hasn't been educated enough that it is a significant risk
factor," he said. "I see patients who are interested in ways they can
reduce overall cancer [risk]. I always tell them the first place to
start is nutrition and exercise and physical fitness."
"Lifestyle
factors such as eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight and
exercising, in addition to not smoking, can have a significant impact
on reducing cancer risk,"
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