A new study suggests that being obese or overweight was associated with cancer cases involving more than 630,000 Americans in 2014, and this includes 13 types of cancer.
“That obesity and overweight are affecting cancers may be surprising to many Americans. The awareness of some cancers being associated with obesity and overweight is not yet widespread,” Dr. Anne Schuchat, CDC deputy director, said during a midday media briefing.
The 13 cancers include brain cancer; multiple myeloma; cancer of the esophagus; postmenopausal breast cancer; cancers of the thyroid, gallbladder, stomach, liver, pancreas, kidney, ovaries, uterus and colon, the researchers said.
Speaking at the news conference, Dr. Lisa Richardson, director of CDC’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, said early evidence indicates that losing weight can lower the risk for some cancers.
According to the new report for the CDC and the U.S. Cancer Institute, these 13 obesity-related cancers made up about 40% of all cancers diagnosed in the United States in 2014. Although the rate of new cancer cases has decreased since the 1990s, increases in overweight and obesity-related cancers are likely slowing this progress, the researchers said.
Excluding colon cancer, the rate of obesity-related cancer increased by 7% between 2005 and 2014. During the same time, rates of non-obesity-related cancers dropped, the findings showed.
For the study, researchers analyzed 2014 cancer data from the United States Cancer Statistics report and data from 2005 to 2014. The new report was published online Oct. 3 in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The World Cancer Research Fund estimates that “20% of all cancers in the United States are caused by a combination of excess body weight, physical inactivity, excess alcohol, and poor nutrition.
My Take:
These findings may surprise many of you but should not. Obesity, especially central obesity is linked to all chronic diseases. People often think of cancer as being random and some cancers certainly appear to be. However, I believe that we just haven’t isolated the causes of many types of cancer.
Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma appeared to be a cancer that randomly struck young adults. Now we know there’s a strong association with exposure to the pesticide Round-Up, manufactured by Monsanto. Round-Up has been used for many years as a weed killer. Today Monsanto produces “Round Up Ready” plant seeds that are genetically modified so Round-Up can be sprayed directly on our food crops without killing the plant.
The Bottom Line:
We know many of the underlying factors that cause various cancers. Obesity, and the lifestyle factors associated with it – lack of exercise and poor diet, are within your control. You can prevent cancer just like you can prevent heart disease and diabetes.
Source: October 3, 2017 National Institutes of Health
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