Previous studies had linked obesity and excess weight to higher risk of cancer. A recent study, published in the December issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, affirmed those findings.
The study looked at more than 287,000 women and their mammogram habits and discovered that overweight older women had a higher risk of getting advanced breast cancer, as compared to older women who were in the normal weight range.
According to Dr Karla Kerlikowske, director of the Women Veterans’ Comprehensive Health Center at San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the leader of the study, overweight women tend to have higher levels of estrogens circulating in their bodies, and this promotes tumor growth.
And the findings of this study also debunked earlier held theories that the higher risk of breast cancer for obese women could be because they were not getting sufficiently screened, or possibly because their tumors were more difficult to spot on mammograms. The link is clear - it’s the excess weight which is a direct cause of the additional risk.
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