Obesity’s Deadly Deed
Obesity Increases Deadliest Forms of Cancer
Obesity early in life increases the risk of acquring pancreatic cancer later in life.
It goes without saying that any cancer diagnosis is bad news, but some diagnoses are worse than others.
Virtually all cancers have good survival rates, so long as they’re diagnosed early, but some are hard just plain hard to pinpoint, which means that by the time they are diagnosed and pinpointed, they’ve already advanced past the point of no return.
Among the worst of these cancers is pancreatic cancer. Lung cancer may be the deadliest form of cancer in the United States, but pancreatic isn’t far behind (fourth deadliest). And what makes pancreatic cancer really standout is its survival rate – or lack there of.
Again, while lung cancer is the deadliest form of cancer, its five-year survival rate is 15 percent (in other words, 15 percent of people who are diagnosed with lung cancer survive for five years). That’s an exceptionally low number, but those chances of survival are downright ambitious in comparison to pancreatic cancer – a 5 percent five-year survival rate! In fact, it metastasizes so quickly, statistics indicate that most people die within six months of diagnosis.
All that said, it is with great concern and worry that I report to you the following:Â People who are obese early in life increase their chances of developing pancreatic cancer by as much as 60 percent (a BMI index level over 30).
This chilling discovery was made by researchers from the University of Texas at the M.D Anderson Cancer Center. In coming to these conclusions, researchers had their group of participants – about half of whom had already been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer – fill out detailed questionnaires that questioned their current health and weight status, how much they weighed in past years, and also some family background information. This background information was important, as it helped the researchers control for contributing factors (ethnicity, history of pancreatic cancer in the family, smoking prevalence, etc.).
After taking these contributing factors into account, they found several linkages to pancreatic cancer and weight. One of them was that those who were obese in their teens and 20s were about 60 percent more likely to have pancreatic cancer than those who were thin at that age.
Another interesting fact they discovered was weight being tied to how early on in life one is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. For instance, those who were obese in their early adult years were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer around the age of 59 on average, while those who were of normal weight were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer around the age of 64 on average.
The study’s published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
That obesity increases the risk of cancer is not the news here. That’s been known for a while, and this study confirmed that (there was a higher percentage of people obese and diagnosed with pancreatic cancer than those who were of normal weight and diagnosed with pancreatic cancer). What is the news is that just being obese, no matter what stage of life, increases the risk of one of the deadliest forms of cancer – and increases that risk more than smoking does!
If that’s not a glaring indication of how risky obesity is, then nothing is.
Sources:
sciencedaily.com
reuters.com
lung-cancer.emedtv.com
Related Posts
- Can Red Wine Control Obesity?
- Obesity Raises Diabetes Risk More Than Inactivity, Study Finds
- Study: Among Obese, Cancer Risk Increases
- Child Obesity Resulting in Risky Stomach Surgery
- Ah-Chew?
 
|
Enjoy this article? We guarantee your privacy. Your email address will NEVER be rented, traded or sold. |
Visit my new site: Self Help On The Web
 |
 |
Posted: June 29th, 2009 under Cancer, Obesity.
Tags: pancreatic cancer
