Obese women are at greater risk of developing breast cancer. Overweight women with high blood sugar and fat levels have more chance of developing breast cancer and have worst prognosis. Doctors conducted research study on 1,000 obese women. Of these, 561 women were diagnosed with Breast Cancer. This research study was conducted by Umea University scientists and published in the “Journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment”.
Death rate is also high in women (both pre and post-menopausal) who are diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. High blood sugar levels in obese women are the major culprit for rise in breast cancer risk. In the research, obese and overweight women have shown lower survival rates than normal weight women.
Inflammatory breast cancer (aggressive form) incidence is more in overweight women when compared to normal females. Severity of the breast cancer rises with increase in weight. Breast cancer recurrence is also high in obese women.
Obesity is the side-effect of Tamoxifen, common breast cancer drug. Doctors need to tackle this problem.
Obesity also increases risk of getting other cancers like Leukaemia, Multiple Myeloma, Thyroid Cancer, Kidney tumours and Colon Cancer. Obesity is the major culprit for increase in incidence of Diabetes, Hypertension and heart diseases.
More than 60% of women over 60 years are either obese or weight in America.
Why should we reduce weight?
1. To decrease risk of getting cancer.
2. To increase survival rate.
3. To reduce chance of recurrence.
Disciplined diet and regular exercise help in reducing obesity levels in the population.