Not only is obesity a cosmetic issue, but it is also a major health issue!!
There are many people now who are obese or have excess body weight. There are high chances of getting serious health issues when a person has gained excess weight. Hence, it is important to control body weight to avoid getting serious health issues later.
These days, many people eat processed foods and follow a sedentary lifestyle. This has led to an increase in obesity among persons. The shocking piece of information is that obesity is associated with several cancers.
The connection between obesity and cancer:
It has been brought to light by research studies that obesity is a major factor for several types of cancers like breast cancer, colorectal cancer, kidney cancer, endometrial cancer and liver cancer etc.
Various mechanisms by which excess body weight could lead to cancers are
Imbalance in hormones:
Excess amounts of oestrogen are produced by the fat tissues in us and this would lead to breast, ovarian endometrial cancers etc.
Chronic inflammation:
Truth is that obesity could result in low grade inflammation in us. It is believed that this persistent inflammatory state could lead to DNA damage and then to the progression and development of several types of cancers.
Altered immune response:
It is worthy to note that the immune system`s ability to detect and fight cancer cells could go down due to excess body fat. This would allow the cancer cells to grow rapidly.
Changes in cellular environment:
An environment would be created within the body due to obesity and this would support the growth of cancer cells. There would be increased oxidative stress and cell metabolism would be altered.
Types of cancer linked to obesity are
Breast c cancer:
Postmenopausal breast cancer is common and that is due to increased oestrogen levels because of excess fat.
Colorectal cancer:
Higher insulin levels due to obesity would lead to growth of colon cancer cells. So, please take care
Endometrial cancer:
Here, excess fat would produce excess oestrogen and it could lead to endometrial cancer.
Liver cancer:
There are high chances of getting cirrhosis and fatty liver disease etc due to obesity. These would increase the chances of liver cancer.
Kidney cancer:
People are more prone to kidney cancer when they are obese. Being obese would lead to hormone related changes and inflammation etc and finally to kidney cancer.