Report: Obesity Causes 100K Cancer Cases

Excess Body Weight Can Lead to Several Different Types of Cancer

(AP)  A new report released today by the American Institute for Cancer Research says 100,500 new cases of cancer are caused by obesity each year, USA Today reports. With one third of Americans overweight, the study sheds disconcerting light on the health of the nation.

The cancers most closely linked to excess weight are breast, endometrial, kidney, colorectal, pancreatic, esophageal and gallbladder.

The list is expected to increase as research continues, says Michael Thun, emeritus vice president of epidemiological research at the American Cancer Society.

"Several other types of cancer - liver, multiple myeloma and certain leukemias - have been linked to obesity in some studies, but this needs confirmation," Thun said.

Donna Ryan, an oncologist and president of the Obesity Society, says insulin is probably the link between obesity and cancer, though hormones and other factors play a part as well.

"Insulin resistance and elevated insulin levels frequently occur in obese people. Insulin is a very powerful cellular growth factor, and it affects cancer cells," Ryan explained.

Anne McTiernan, director of the Prevention Center at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, says the best way to lower your risk of cancer is to lose weight, exercise and eat a healthy diet.

Read more at usatoday.com.

[rf35]

Time for the fat tax, folks. Your rate is based on body fat percentage.

[chilenopo]

Tamara- thanks for the link and clarification. I think Jillian and Bob wrote this article. LOL

[tamara_t]

What a MESS this article is !!!

With respect to breast cancer, according to the National Institute of Cancer, "Before menopause, obese women have a lower risk of developing breast cancer than do women of a healthy weight". Read that again, before menopause, obese women have a LOWER risk of breast cancer than healthy weight women. It's only after menopause that their risk increases, but only for those women who aren't using HRT. The obese HRT users have the same risk as the non-obese HRT users.

With respect to colon cancer, the increased risk due to obesity appears to true only for men, not women. Again, according to the National Cancer Institute, "The relationship between BMI and [colon cancer] risk in women, however, has been found to be weaker or absent."

With respsect to kidney cancer, the increased risk due to obesity may be true only for women, not men.

I'll leave it to all of you curious minds to do your own corroborating research. Here's a good page to start out with:

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/obesity

[rf35]

So you're saying obese people are less likely to get cancer? Even if that were true, there's a reason a healthy weight is referred to as "healthy." Obesity is not healthy. Quit trying to justify people who are overweight.