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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : November 29, 2014 1:44 PM IST
Being overweight: This is one thing that you can thankfully blame your genes for. A research published in the journal PLoS Genetics revealed a brain cell gene which regulates body weight by controlling feelings of fullness or hunger.
Washington, Nov 26: A study published in journal The Lancet Oncology highlights obesity as an emerging cause of rise in cancer cases.
As per the study, conducted by the WHO's cancer research agency, about a half a million cases of cancer cases recorded in a year are caused due to obesity. The study, led by Dr Melina Arnold from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), derived observations through a model to analyse from data obtained from multiple sources including the GLOBOCAN database of cancer incidence and mortality for 184 countries. Here are some key findings of the study:
Obesity-related cancer risk is greater in women: Obesity-related cancer was found to be a greater problem for women than men, mainly due to endometrial (womb/uterus) and post-menopausal breast cancers.
Most of the cases were realistically unavoidable: It also estimated that 25% of all obesity-related cancers in 2012 (118,000 cases) were attributable to the increasing average body mass index (BMI) in the population since 1982, and were therefore 'realistically avoidable.' (Read: An aspirin a day may keep cancer away!)
Common obesity-related cancers in men: Colon and kidney cancers accounted for over two-thirds of all obesity-related cancers (nearly 90,000 cases).
Common obesity-related cancers in women: Around 250,000 cases of post-menopausal breast, endometrial, and colon cancers were reported, accounting for three-quarters of the obesity-related cancer burden in women.
Excess weight as a cause of cancer: In men, excess weight was responsible for 1.9 per cent or 136,000 new cancers in 2012, and in women it was 5.4 per cent or 345,000 new cases.
Obesity-related cancer burden in developed countries: Around 8 per cent of cancers in women and 3 per cent in men were associated with excess bodyweight, compared with just 1.5 per cent of cancers in women and about 0.3 per cent of cancers in men in developing countries. (Read: 10 simple lifestyle changes to prevent cancer)
North America reported highest number of cases: With 111,000 cancers, north America accounted almost a quarter (23 per cent) of all new obesity-related cancers globally - and sub-Saharan Africa contributed the least (7,300 cancers or 1.5 per cent).
Within Europe, east Europe had the highest burden: Eastern Europe accounted for over a third of the total European cases due to excess BMI (66,000 cancers).
Varying proportion of obesity-related cancers in different countries: In men, cancer cases were was particularly high in the Czech Republic (5.5 per cent of the country's new cancer cases in 2012), Jordan and Argentina (4.5 per cent), and in the UK and Malta (4.4 per cent). In women, it was strikingly high in Barbados (12.7 per cent), followed by the Czech Republic (12 per cent) and Puerto Rico (11.6 per cent). (Read: 58% young adults in India don t think obesity is a disease)
It was lowest in both sexes in countries within sub-Saharan Africa (less than 2 per cent in men and below 4 per cent in women). 'If 3.6 per cent of all cancers are associated with high BMI, that is nearly half a million cancers, but this number is large mainly because the world population is large,' Dr Benjamin Cairns from the University of Oxford in the UK said.
Source: PTI
Photo source: Getty images
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