Kuala Lumpur, August 1 — A study by the World Cancer Research Fund has found that for every 12 months spent being overweight or obese, the risk of a woman dying from bowel or breast cancer increases up to four and three percent respectively.
The observational study is among the first to show that having excess weight could reduce cancer survival rates. Previous studies have already shown linkage between being overweight and developing cancer.
47,000 women between the ages of 20 and 50 years in Sweden had their weight monitored. 1,500 later developed bowel or breast cancer after the onset of menopause.
This increase in the risk of dying is seen for all cancer stages, including at the early stages.
Those who are overweight or obese are more likely to develop chronic inflamation, damage to DNA and insulin resistance, increasingly the likelihood of cancer.
Such a person is vulnerable to developing 13 types of cancers including those of the pancreas, kidney, bowel, thyroid, liver and upper stomach.
Researchers stated that the time spent being overweight was “equivalent to years of cigarette smoking”.