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Obesity: The Little Known Cancer Risk
For more than three decades, the American
Cancer Society has nagged, cajoled and inspired people to stop
smoking, conducting such campaigns as the Great American Smokeout.
It also has gently persuaded the
reluctant to get regular cancer screening checkups, such as Pap
smears, prostate exams and mammograms, to drive down cancer rates.
Now, the cancer society hopes to
persuade Americans that their widening girth isn't just an appearance
problem or a heart-disease risk.
Too much weight also heightens
the risk of many forms of cancer, although few Americans are aware
of the link. Being overweight or obese seems to be responsible
for 14 percent of all cancer deaths in men and 20 percent of cancer
deaths in women, a large-scale study published earlier this year
in the New England Journal of Medicine found.
Still, most Americans don't associate
excess weight with cancer risks, says Colleen Doyle, a dietitian
and the director of nutrition and physical activity for the American
Cancer Society.
"We found that out from a
benchmark survey we did in early 2002," she says. "Only
1 percent of people who responded said that weight loss was a
way to reduce cancer risk. That said to us, we've got a big awareness
problems. Let's connect those dots."
Earlier this year, the cancer society
teamed with Weight Watchers International to start connecting
those dots. Americans were invited to stop by participating Weight
Watchers centers to get a free weigh-in and learn their BMI, or
body mass index -- a measure of height to weight that's tied to
disease risk. A BMI of 25 and above is considered overweight;
30 and above, obese. A person who is 5-foot-8 is overweight at
165 pounds and obese at 195.
Next spring, the cancer society
and Weight Watchers will again offer weigh-ins and programs to
increase awareness during the second Great American Weigh In.
"We intend to make next year's
Great American Weigh In much bigger and better," says Chris
Corcoran, a Weight Watchers spokesperson.
It's scheduled for March 5, but
Doyle says the entire week may be devoted to education programs.
Exactly how big a risk excess weight
poses was demonstrated dramatically in the New England Journal
of Medicine study. Researchers tracked more than 900,000 U.S.
adults who were cancer-free in 1982, following them for the next
16 years. They factored in other risk factors to determine what
role excess weight played in their cancers.
The researchers concluded there's
an association between BMI and death from many forms of cancer,
and they identified several forms of the disease not previously
linked to unhealthy body weight. These include cancer of the colon,
esophagus, gall bladder, kidney, liver, pancreas and rectum, as
well as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and multiple myeloma. For men,
there's also an increased risk of prostate and stomach cancer;
for women, cancer of the breast, cervix, ovaries and uterus.
One reason excess weight may raise
your cancer risk, researchers say, is that fat cells produce a
kind of estrogen called estradiol, and this accelerates rapid
cell division, in turn increasing cancer risk.
Convincing people to get down to
a healthy weight -- as well as stopping smoking, eating a healthy
diet, exercising and getting regular checkups -- will produce
a dramatic reduction in cancer deaths, Doyle says.
"Close to 65 percent of all
cancer deaths could be prevented by lifestyle changes," she
says. "I think that's the really good news, that people can
have some control over cancer."
More information
For more information on the link
between excess weight and cancer, visit the American
Cancer Society. The National
Library of Medicine has plenty of information on dieting and
weight loss.
Reference
Source 101
For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use
PreventDisease.com's "Quick
Prevention Resources".
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