Being obese or overweight may lead to eight more types of cancer than previously thought, new research has warned.
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They include those of the stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, ovary and thyroid – along with a type of tumour called meningioma and the blood cancer multiple myeloma. They said that their findings underlined the importance of staying slim.
“The burden of cancer due to being overweight or obese is more extensive than what has been assumed”, said Graham Colditz, M.D., Dr. P.H., IARC Working Group chair, adding that a lot of the cancers newly linked to obesity had not been commonly thought of as having a weight component.
The same group of scientists – led by experts at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis – added another eight cancers to that list.
The research also concluded there was “limited evidence” that people of a normal weight had a lower chance of dying from cancer of the prostate, cancer of the breast in men, and a type of lymphoma.
A team organized by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) – the WHO’s cancer research branch – analyzed more than 1,000 epidemiological studies that had looked at the possible connection between excess body fat (as defined by body mass index) and different types of cancer. He added that people aren’t aware of numerous newly identified cancers which are linked to obesity.
An estimated one in four Australian children are overweight or obese, according to the latest data.
But if obesity does play a role in cancer risk, the stakes are enormous.
Since cancer is largely caused by environmental factors, the disease could therefore be controlled through the life choices we make. “Public health efforts to combat cancer should focus on these things that people have some control over”.
The 21 independent global experts also found evidence that the higher a person’s body mass index (BMI) the greater the cancer risk.
People are therefore implored to take preventive measures on issues pertaining to their health.
For breast cancer, for example, the risk goes up by an additional 10 per cent for every five BMI points above 30.
Colditz did acknowledge the difficulty with long-lasting weight loss, and suggested patients embrace realistic expectations.
In the United States, almost 71 percent of adults over 20 are overweight or obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 13% of adults older than 18 were obese. Unless the Government acts, future generations will face ill-health, will develop cancers that could have been avoided and a financially overwhelmed NHS will be unable to cope.
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A lack of human subjects in the reviewed studies also made it impossible for Colditz and his colleagues to determine whether overweight or obese individuals can reduce their risk for cancer by shedding pounds.
