Is Obesity A Cancer Time Bomb?

Our expanding waistlines may top cigarettes as the biggest health threat

- Natalia Lubomirski

Smoking causes around 22,000 new cancer cases in women every year, while diagnoses related to excess weight currently stand at much less. But according to a new study carried out by Cancer Research UK, obesity levels are about to soar, with scientists predicting that within 25 years our bulging bellies will overtake smoking as the biggest cause of preventable cancer in women. Cigarettes are still as dangerous as ever, but researchers believe that rising obesity levels, combined with falling smoking rates, will see the two switch places. and shockingly, by 2035, one in 10 new female cancer cases will be caused by our expanding waistlines.

The link

We know being overweight is unhealthy, but how exactly does obesity cause cancer? According to the experts at Cancer Research UK, extra fat in our bodies doesn’t just sit there, it sends out signals to the rest of our cells to divide more often, which can lead to cancer. ‘Being obese is associated with higher levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (small proteins important for cell signalling), while high levels of a fat protein, called leptin, as well as other adipose proteins, have been shown to progress some cancer pathways,’ explains private GP Dr Jeff Foster.

Having excessive levels of fat in our bodies can affect our hormones, too. ‘Fat tissue secretes polypeptide hormones, biochemicals linked to the development of cancer,’ he adds. ‘Obesity can also affect levels of sex hormones, such as oestrogen, progesterone and androgens, particularly in women, leading to certain types of female cancers such as breast and ovarian cancer.’