Overweight and obesity can increase the risk of developing the 10 most common types of cancer.

This conclusion was published by British researchers in the pages of The Lancet.

Overweight and obesity are a global problem.

In the USA, 69% of people over the age of 20 are either obese or overweight. Similar figures are published by experts from the United Kingdom, where 62% of people over 16 years of age are overweight.

It is well known that overweight increases the risk of potentially dangerous diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart failure, hypertension, stroke. Previously, scientists from different countries have already suggested that obesity can contribute to the development of cancer.

A few facts about obesity in the US:.

• 6.8 million Americans are obese.

• The incidence of obesity has doubled in children over 30 years and 4 times in adolescents.

• In 2008, Americans with obesity spent an average of $ 1,429 more on treatment than others. Now the research team of Dr. Krishnan Bhaskaran from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine conducted the largest study on the relationship between cancer and the body mass index (BMI).

BMI affects cancer unequally.

For their research, Dr. Bhaskaran's staff used the records of general practitioners (GPs) from all over the UK that are collected in the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD).

They carried out an impressive work that included 5.24 million patients aged 16 years and older who did not have cancer at the beginning of the study and were tracked on medical records on average for 7.5 years.

The team analyzed the association of BMI participants and the risk of developing the 22 most common types of cancer, accounting for 90% of all cancers in the UK.

During the analysis, 166,955 participants were identified who fell ill with one of these 22 types of cancer. Scientists have concluded that the body mass index is associated with the development of 17 of them, while for the 10 most common types of cancer, the connection was very strong.

British scientists have found that increasing the body mass index for every 5 kg / m2 increases the risk of the following types of cancer:.

• Cancer of the body of the uterus - by 62%.

• Gallbladder cancer - by 31%.

• Kidney cancer - by 25%.

• Liver cancer - by 19%.

• Cancer of the large intestine - by 10%.

• Cervical cancer - by 10%.

• Ovarian cancer - by 9%.

• Thyroid cancer - by 9%.

• Leukemia - 9%.

• Breast cancer - by 5% The researchers also found that a high BMI is associated with different types of cancer, depending on the sex of patients, age, and others.. Scientists have found some relationship between body weight and prostate cancer in men.

"There are significant variations in the impact of BMI on different types of cancer. For example, the risk of cancer of the uterus body with obesity is greatly increased; for other types of cancer we have seen a very modest connection or complete absence of it. Breast cancer in young women (before menopause) with a high BMI occurs even less frequently than in the rest of the population. This tells us that BMI affects the risk of cancer with a completely different mechanism, "explained Dr. Bhaskaran.

The obesity epidemic is thousands of new cases of cancer every year.

The authors of the study estimated that obesity and overweight can be the cause of 41% of unexplained cases of uterine cancer in the UK and more than 10% of cases of cancer of the gallbladder, kidney, liver and intestines.

They also stated that for every additional 1 kg / m2 BMI (equivalent to 8-10 pounds for an adult) during the year, there are 3,790 new cancers across the UK. And we are talking only about the 10 most common types of cancer listed above!.

Commenting on his pessimistic forecasts, Dr. Bhaskaran said: "The number of people who are overweight in the UK is skyrocketing. Everybody recognizes that this is one of the main causes of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Our results say that if this trend does not change, then we can expect even more new cases of cancer ".

In an accompanying article, Dr. Peter Campbell, a member of the American Cancer Society, notes that "there is insufficient evidence that obesity is the cause of cancer". But he believes that more research should be carried out as soon as possible and, if they disclose such a link, it is necessary to demand appropriate changes in health policy.

Among the proposed measures to combat obesity, according to Dr. Campbell, you need to pay attention to reducing the calorie intake of the British diet, promoting sports and a mobile lifestyle, subsidies for sellers of healthy food and additional taxes on high-calorie and harmful foods. Also, the doctor advises changing the planning of cities in such a way as to make people walk more or to ride bicycles.

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