We’ve all heard about the dangers of smoking and hormone replacement therapy in terms of cancer. Now there may be a new lifestyle factor that doctors will attribute to cancer – The problem of being overweight or obese.
According to the calculations of some respected experts, last year over 124,000 Europeans developed cancer because they were overweight. And with rates of obesity steadily rising, these cancer numbers could climb dramatically in the years to come.
“It is possible that obesity may become the biggest attributable cause of cancer in women within the next decade,” warns lead researcher Andrew Renehan of Cardiff University in Britain.
The startling findings were presented at Europe’s largest cancer meeting, the European Cancer Organization and the European Society for Medical Oncology held recently in Berlin.
Renehan and his team used data from the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer to come up with a sophisticated model to estimate the proportion of cancers that might be attributed to carrying too much weight.
In 2002, the latest year figures on cancer are available; the team calculated that 70,000 new cases of cancer diagnosed in 30 European countries could be attributed to the patient being overweight.
The work used the World Health Organization definitions for overweight and obese, though these numbers may be slightly different from the ones you’ve seen in other places. A BMI (body mass index) that falls between 25.0 and 30.0 is classified by the WHO as overweight; a BMI anywhere over 30.0 is considered obese.
The researchers then projected the figures from 2002 forward to 2008, accounting for the reduced use of hormone replacement therapy after 2002 when it was linked to increased risks of breast cancer.
They also accounted for the wider availability of prostate cancer screening. After all this was taken into account, the team found that the number of cancers that could be tied to extra body weight jumped to 124,000 for the year 2008.
In men, 3.2% of new cancers were weight related, in women the number climbs to 8.6%. In terms of geography, France and Denmark have less of a problem with weight related cancers, while central European countries (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Slovenia) have the greatest number of cancers tied to too much weight.
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Being overweight Linked To 124,000 Cancers Continued…
Breast, colorectal and endometrial cancers were the most common ones tied to carrying extra body weight.
Experts have long suspected that obesity raises the risk of cancer, probably due to hormones (heavier people produce more estrogen which helps tumors grow). Also, larger waistlines mean larger stomachs and more stomach acid – a likely culprit in some cancers.
Renehan points out that these numbers are “very conservative estimates”. Still, other experts don’t expect carrying extra weight to match smoking for cancer risk.
As for the good old U.S.A., some studies have found overweight and obesity might be responsible for as many as 20% of cancers.
The research suggests that new ways may be needed to help us all get control over the problems of being overweight. Telling everyone to lose weight, or pointing out the dangers of carrying those extra pounds hasn’t worked so far, and isn’t likely to do any better in the future.
Daily Health Bulletin
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